ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY, Philippines – Maritime police arrested a boatman and confiscated around P8.7 million worth of smuggled cigarettes off the province’s coast, authorities said on Friday, December 12.
The Zamboanga Sibugay Maritime Police Station (Marpsta) identified the suspect only as “Al,” 31, a resident of Zone 2, Cawit village in Zamboanga City.
Police said Al was intercepted on Thursday, December 11, while transporting boxes of undocumented cigarettes aboard a motorboat bound for Ipil, the provincial capital. The arrest followed a seaborne patrol launched after operatives received intelligence that a vessel carrying contraband was en route to town.
The maritime police said officers spotted a gray motorboat heavily loaded with boxes. As they approached for visual inspection, they immediately saw master cases of suspected smuggled cigarettes in plain view.
Al allegedly failed to present documents proving the legality of the cargo.
Authorities later confirmed that the cigarettes lacked graphic health warnings, a violation of the Graphic Health Warnings Law and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
A total of 150 master cases of smuggled cigarettes—valued at P8.7 million—were seized, along with the motorboat used in the transport.
The maritime police brought the suspect and the contraband to the Zamboanga Sibugay Marpsta for documentation and proper disposition.
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