Seaborne cops seize P2.8-M imported cigarettes 

COTABATO CITY — Seaborne policemen seized P2.8 million worth of cigarettes from Indonesia that seafarers were to deliver to a seaside village Zamboanga City on Sunday.  

Radio reports in Cotabato City on Wednesday stated that a police team intercepted the small boat carrying 53 large cases of imported cigarettes before it could sail close to a beachfront in Barangay Santa Barbara in Zamboanga City.  

Officials of the Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) and the Zamboanga City Police Office had separately said that the three men who were to deliver the cigarettes have been detained. 

Brig. Gen. Roel C. Rodolfo, director of PRO-9, said he is thankful to the tipsters who provided information about the illegal shipment, enabling the Zamboanga police force to intercept it promptly. 

Zamboanga City police officials said the confiscated imported cigarettes will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition. — John Felix M. Unson