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John Unson - Philstar.com
April 11, 2026 | 5:20pm
Using a drug-sniffing dog, an agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency inspected for narcotics all of the boxes containing the seized smuggled cigarettes, but found none.
Western Mindanao Command
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A Navy team seized P64.4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in a seaborne operation in the territorial seas of Sulu province in Southern Mindanao on Wednesday, April 8.
Officials of the Western Mindanao Naval Command (WMNC) and Army Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, separately told reporters on Saturday that the small boat carrying the Indonesian-made cigarettes, the M/B Princess Zia, was intercepted by a Navy team near Marungas island in Sulu, while sailing towards a seaside area in the province.
All of the six crewmen of the impounded boat were immediately detained to be prosecuted for smuggling cigarettes from abroad.
They have assured the police and the WestMinCom to identify the traders behind the foiled smuggling attempt.
Gumiran and the commander of WMNC, Rear Admiral Constancio Arturo Reyes Jr., separately said the 460 large boxes of imported cigarettes seized in the Navy’s anti-smuggling operation in Sulu, costing P64.4 million, had been turned over to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.
The two officials said they are grateful to local executives in Sulu who supported the operation that led to the confiscation of the P64.4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.
The boat that was to transport the illegal merchandise to buyers in Sulu and in seaside towns in Basilan is now berthed in one of the seaside camps of the WMNC.
