GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 3 September) — Authorities seized over ₱5.6 million in smuggled cigarettes during two separate incidents in General Santos City and neighboring Sarangani Province on Monday.
At about 3 o’clock dawn Monday, joint personnel of Police Station 5 and the City Mobile Force Company of the General Santos City Police Office, together with Regional Mobile Force Battalion 12, Task Force GenSan, and RID 12 tracker teams, flagged down a white Foton Tornado truck.
Image courtesy of PRO-12 Public Information Office
Found in plain view in the truck were130 boxes of Cannon brand cigarettes, with each box containing 50 reams of contraband cigarettes with a total market value of ₱5,107,700.
The truck was driven by one alias “Sahid,” 32 years old, married, accompanied by an alias “Aldo,” 31 years old, single, and both residents of Vista Village, Polomolok, South Cotabato.
The two were arrested, and the truck and contraband were turned over to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for proper disposition, police said.
At around 11:40 a.m. of the same day and in another checkpoint in Barangay Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province, policemen also intercepted a white Isuzu Travis truck bound for General Santos City.
The 50-year-old truck driver from Panabo City failed to present proper documentation for the cargo, which contained 735 reams of Gajah Baru brand cigarettes valued at ₱577,563.
He was also arrested, and the truck and cargo were handed over to the BOC.
General Santos City Police Office (GSCPO) Director Nicomedes Olaivar Jr. said authorities suspect the seized cigarettes were passing through the city en route to other destinations.
“They said the cigarettes were going to Davao, to South Cotabato, and other places. Of course, they had prepared a cover story. That’s why we have strong doubts that they were just passing through or traveling along the main road in GenSan,” he told Brigada News GenSan in the vernacular.
The arrested suspects in both cases remain in custody, pending further investigation and disposition by the BOC.
In a statement posted on Facebook by the Regional Public Information Office – Police Regional Office 12, Brig. Gen. Arnold P. Ardiente, regional police director, commended the operating units responsible for the seizures.
“Smuggling not only deprives the government of revenues but also undermines the welfare of legitimate businesses. PRO 12, in coordination with our partner agencies, will continue to intensify border operations to safeguard our economy and protect our communities,” Ardiente said. (Guia A. Rebollido / MindaNews)
