Two consecutive operations under the Oplan Mega Shopper campaign against smuggling yielded more than a million pesos worth of unregistered cigarettes.
Police authorities in Zamboanga del Sur have seized last week smuggled cigarettes worth close to a million pesos leading to the arrest of three suspects who were caught unloading the contraband ready for distribution to their targets sellers in a barangay of the same province.
Agents from the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Zamboanga del Sur field office seized y 25 master cases and 140 reams of white and red Astro brand illicit cigarettes, which are not registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Also last week, CIDG operatives in Cagayan de Oro arrested a local businessman selling illegal cigarettes, including the illicit Astro brand, in the city’s public market.
The CIDG Cagayan de Oro field office said the seized items have an estimated market value of close to P300,000.
