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John Unson - Philstar.com
March 27, 2026 | 5:58pm
The smuggled cigarettes seized by policemen in Malabang, Lanao del Sur, on March 25, 2026, will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY — Policemen seized P12.8 million worth of cigarettes from Indonesia in an anti-smuggling operation in the seaside town of Malabang, Lanao del Sur, late Wednesday, March 25.
Local executives in Malabang told reporters on Friday that the operation was launched after a resident reported seeing men piling large boxes containing imported cigarettes along a road in Barangay Bunkhouse. The resident also overheard one of them telling someone over a mobile phone that the contraband was ready to be picked up by a cargo truck.
The six men, speaking to each other in the Maranao dialect, fled when they noticed personnel from the Malabang Municipal Police Station, the 2nd Police Mobile Force Company, and the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 14A of the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region closing in. The units had been dispatched to investigate the suspicious activity at that location.
Malabang is one of 39 towns in Lanao del Sur, which lies within the core territory of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, covering four other provinces, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, as well as the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato.
Police Brig. Gen. De Guzman, director of PRO-BAR, said authorities immediately seized 220 boxes of Indonesian-brand cigarettes worth P12.8 million. The group of men was planning to deliver the contraband to contacts in Malabang and nearby towns in Lanao del Sur.
De Guzman added that Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., chairperson of the multi-sector Lanao del Sur Provincial Peace and Order Council, has pledged to assist police investigators in identifying the smugglers for immediate prosecution, preventing the distribution of the cigarettes to retailers across the province.
He also said the confiscated imported cigarettes will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.
