Personnel from the Coast Guard Station (CGS) Zamboanga (in photo) check PHP1.5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes they intercepted in the waters off Barangay Maasin, Zamboanga City on Thursday (Oct. 23, 2025). On the same day, operatives from the Zamboanga City Police Office seized some PHP5.3 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in a separate operation in Barangay Talon-Talon. (Photo courtesy of CGS-Zamboanga)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – About PHP6.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized in separate law enforcement operations in this city, authorities reported Friday.
Of the total confiscation, PHP5.3 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized by the Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) on Thursday, and the remaining PHP1.5 million by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on the same day.
Col. Fidel Fortaleza Jr., ZCPO director, said the PHP5.3 million worth of smuggled cigarettes was seized in a raid at a warehouse in Omar Drive, Barangay Talon-Talon.
“No one was arrested as the owner or caretaker of the warehouse fled upon sensing the arriving policemen,” Fortaleza said in his report.
Seized from the warehouse were 355 master cases of assorted cigarette brands.
Meanwhile, the PCG, through the Coast Guard Station (CGS)-Zamboanga, also seized some PHP1.5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in the waters off Barangay Maasin.
The CGS-Zamboanga personnel were conducting a maritime patrol when they spotted a motorboat sailing toward the shore of Maasin, and upon inspection, it was found to be carrying the contraband.
After an orderly inspection, the Coast Guard team promptly towed the watercraft to Paniran Wharf near Coast Guard Station Zamboanga for custody, inventory, and proper disposition. (PNA)
