Imported cigarettes seized in Sarangani
TIMRA Reports • 08:45 AM Fri Jan 21, 2022
902
By:
John M. Unson
GENERAL SANTOS CITY --- The police seized 25 boxes of imported cigarettes intercepted in Maitum town in Sarangani while en route to somewhere in the province Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Alexander Tagum, director of the Police Regional Office-12, said Friday the contraband was in a van that policemen impounded when they found out that it carried Casablanca cigarettes, for delivery to somewhere in the municipality.
“The driver of that truck and his helpers were unloading some of their merchandise in Barangay Piñol (in Maitum) when patrolling policemen saw them. They were immediately surrounded and prevented from leaving,” Tagum said.
Investigators placed at between P375,000 to P420,000 their estimate of the value of the confiscated 25 boxes of Casablanca cigarettes from Indonesia.
Tagum said truck driver Alimodin Benolirao and companions Jenny Plaza and Alvin Agosto are now detained.
They are now being questioned on the identities of their employer and the source of the confiscated cigarettes.
Benolirao had initially told interrogators that their truck is owned by a certain Kokoy Cardino, a resident of Valencia City in Bukidnon.
He said the Casablanca cigarettes that personnel of the Maitum municipal police confiscated from them are from Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province.
The shipment did not have tariff and customs documents.
Tagum said the PRO-12 shall turnover the illegal merchandise to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.