Police authorities arrested six suspects and confiscated PHP15 million worth of smuggled cigarettes during a routine checkpoint operation in Barangay Panatan, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato, on Thursday.
According to Pigcawayan municipal police chief Maj. Mark John Mutlah, more than 300 boxes of imported cigarettes were found hidden in two 10-wheeler trucks traveling from Zamboanga Sibugay to North Cotabato and the Davao region.
“The cargo trucks were subjected to inspection at the border checkpoint in Barangay Panatan, manned by the Police Regional Mobile Force Battalion at about 10 a.m. Thursday,” Mutlah said in his report.
The cigarettes were concealed under piles of sacks of charcoal, which the suspects claimed they were transporting to the Davao region.
All six suspects, residents of Zamboanga Sibugay and Ozamiz City, are currently detained at the Pigcawayan municipal police lock-up and face charges for smuggling.