The Philippine National Police (PNP) has ordered a nationwide crackdown on strategic transit points and storage hubs used in the illegal tobacco trade, a move that could directly affect long-standing cigarette smuggling routes in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. directed all police units to intensify operations against smuggling networks. The country’s top cop issued the order following intelligence reports showing recurring illegal activities in key transit and warehousing areas across the country, particularly in Central Luzon and parts of Mindanao.
“We have to counter every aggressive move by these cigarette smugglers. This illegal activity involves billions of pesos in lost tax revenues,” Nartatez said.
The police must sustain efforts to locate smuggled items, dismantle syndicates, and hold accountable everyone involved — from runners to financiers, he added.
While recent high-profile seizures were carried out in Bulacan and Davao del Sur, security officials said the directive is expected to have ripple effects in Mindanao’s western corridor, including the Zamboanga Peninsula. The region has long been identified by law enforcement as a transit and distribution area for illicit cigarettes.
READ: Cigarette Smuggling in Zamboanga Peninsula: Why the Crackdown Never Seems Enough
The region’s extensive coastline, porous maritime borders, and proximity to international shipping routes have made it vulnerable to cigarette smuggling, Undocumented products often entered through small ports and coastal communities before being distributed inland to nearby provinces and cities.
The PNP order came after joint operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) seized around P80 million worth of illegal cigarettes during an entrapment operation in Marilao, Bulacan on Friday, February 6. Police operatives arrested two foreign nationals suspected of involvement in large-scale illicit distribution. On the same day, authorities also confiscated about P22 million worth of suspected smuggled cigarettes in Barangay Dawis, Digos City, Davao del Sur.
Organized illegal trade
Nartatez said the scale of the recent seizures highlights the role of organized financiers behind the illegal trade.
“No amount of money, influence, or connections can protect smugglers and their financiers. We will go after not only the runners and warehouse operators, but more importantly, the masterminds behind these illegal activities,” he said.
Earlier, police also inspected a raided illegal cigarette factory in Mexico, Pampanga, where around P400 million worth of tobacco products were recovered.
Since December last year, authorities have seized an estimated P10 billion worth of undocumented cigarettes, paraphernalia, and manufacturing equipment from warehouses and illegal factories in Batangas, Malabon, and Pampanga.
In Zamboanga Peninsula, the intensified campaign could mean tighter monitoring of coastal entry points, highways, and storage facilities, as well as closer coordination between regional police, maritime units, and local government agencies, The shift could disrupt entrenched smuggling operations that have persisted for years with minimal enforcement pressure.
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