LAWMEN have recovered some P10.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes during a law enforcement operation in a west coast village in Zamboanga City, a police official said Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Cristopher Navida, 2nd Zamboanga City Mobile Force Company (2ZCMFC) commander, said the smuggled were recovered around 4:25 a.m. Wednesday, September 30, along the shoreline near Puerto Villa, Patalon village.
Navida said the Regional Special Operation Unit-9 (RSOU-9) of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) coordinated with his command after they received information regarding the presence of suspected smuggled cigarettes along the shoreline of Patalon.
“Upon verification, the information was confirmed to be positive, resulting in the recovery of alleged abandoned smuggled cigarettes suspected to have been transported to the area,” Navida said in his report.
Recovered were 72 master cases of assorted brand of cigarettes worth P10,780,000.
Navida noted that some of the master cases of cigarettes were marked “for transshipment in-transit only.”
He said the recovered cigarettes were brought to the 2ZCMFC headquarters for proper documentation, inventory, further investigation, and appropriate disposition.
He said the recovered contraband will be properly turned over to the Bureau of Customs-Port of Zamboanga for proper disposition. (SunStar Zamboanga)