Philippine Navy personnel recovered boxes of smuggled cigarettes during separate maritime interdiction operations off Basilan, leading to the arrest of 21 crew members and the seizure of two motorboats.(Photo courtesy of the Philippine Navy’s Western Mindanao Naval Command)
PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur — The Philippine Navy’s Western Mindanao Naval Command (WMNC) intercepted two separate maritime smuggling attempts within 48 hours, confiscating contraband shipments of foreign-brand cigarettes worth a combined P526.3 million.
Operating under the tactical control of Naval Task Force 61 (NTF61), naval units carried out back-to-back operations that led to the seizure of two motorboats, the arrest of 21 crew members, and the confiscation of nearly 3,916 master cases of undocumented tobacco products bound for distribution in mainland Mindanao.
On May 13 at 3:10 p.m., authorities intercepted M/B ZHYZHY off Basilan waters. Boarding teams discovered 2,519 master cases of cigarettes.
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