• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
An estimated P2.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes was seized on Tuesday night by the police in Barangay Pasil, E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental.
This follows the seizure of P12.8 million worth smuggled cigarettes along the shoreline of Brgy. Tiling in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, by the Maritime Police on May 19.
P/Maj. Eric Doronilla, E.B. Magalona police chief, disclosed that they received information on the construction of a makeshift bodega along a protected mangrove area, located at the Malogo riverbank, which was used to store the contraband cigarettes.
Recovered during the anti-smuggling operation were 140 large boxes of Brave cigarettes, believed to have been smuggled and sold without the proper tax stamps. Each box contains 50 reams of cigarettes.
Doronilla said their initial investigation indicates that the smuggled cigarettes are transported to the makeshift bodega using small boats.
Two persons who were contracted to build the makeshift bodega were invited for questioning by the E.B. Magalona police.
Doronilla raised the possibility that the smuggled cigarettes confiscated in Cauayan and E.B. Magalona towns could have originated from Mindanao.
On May 21, policemen also intercepted a van at a checkpoint in Barangay Panubigan, Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, for traveling without a license plate. Upon inspection, the three suspects – two residents of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, and a 53-year-old Zamboanga City resident, failed to produce the necessary vehicle documents.
That prompted police to search the van, leading to the discovery of 250 reams of assorted cigarettes, believed to be contraband, valued at P1.2 million.
P/Col. Rainerio de Chavez, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, lauded the efforts of the EB Magalona Police in their intensified operations against illicit activities.*
