BARMM cops seize P3.5-M smuggled cigarettes

COTABATO CITY — Policemen seized P3.5 million worth of imported cigarettes found inside a van-type truck intercepted at a checkpoint along Secretary Ramos Highway in Barangay Pinantao in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte on Tuesday.

The now-detained driver of the truck carrying the contraband, Ebrahim Ayob Ansao, 42, and his 48-year-old helper, Rashid Abdullah Kasan, have admitted that they were bringing the Indonesian-made cigarettes to buyers in Parang and other towns in Maguindanao del Norte and Cotabato City, both in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

They both promised to identify the smuggler they worked for to enable prosecution in court by the Police Regional Police Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR).

Brig. Gen. Jaysen C. De Guzman, director of the PRO-BAR, told reporters on Wednesday that the confiscated tobacco products will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.

Officials of the police units also impounded the truck driven by Mr. Ansao, bearing license plates KBC 8662.

Mr. Ansao and Mr. Kasan have told investigators that the smuggled cigarettes are from a supplier based in Zamboanga del Sur province in Region 9. — John Felix M. Unson