BACOLOD City — The Police Regional Office–Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) intensified its anti-smuggling campaign in the first half of 2026, conducting 283 operations that led to the seizure of illegal cigarettes worth more than P195 million and the arrest of 52 individuals.
PRO-NIR reported that anti-smuggling operations conducted from January to June 2026 resulted in the confiscation of alleged illicit cigarettes with a total estimated value of P195,007,310.20.
The campaign continued on June 30 with separate incidents in the Negros Occidental towns of Toboso and Hinoba-an, where authorities recovered and received the voluntary surrender of alleged smuggled cigarettes worth a combined P87,000.
In Toboso, personnel of the Municipal Police Station (MPS) recovered an estimated P75,000 worth of alleged illicit cigarettes after a concerned citizen reported three abandoned boxes along the National Highway in Sitio Bebang, Barangay General Luna, at about 3:30 p.m.
Responding police officers found 45 reams of Bosqu cigarettes inside the abandoned boxes. Authorities said the individual who left the contraband remains unidentified, and an investigation is underway to determine its source and ownership.
Meanwhile, in Hinoba-an, a 59-year-old barangay kagawad from Barangay Asia voluntarily surrendered eight reams of hard-pack Capital Menthol Finest American Blend cigarettes believed to be smuggled to the Hinoba-an MPS at around 4:50 p.m.
Police said the surrender stemmed from the station’s sustained information campaign, conducted in coordination with barangay officials, aimed at discouraging the possession and distribution of illicit cigarettes in the municipality.
The voluntarily surrendered cigarettes were valued at approximately P12,000.
PRO-NIR said it will continue to strengthen its anti-smuggling operations and public awareness campaigns to curb the illegal trade of cigarettes, which deprives the government of tax revenues and fuels illicit commercial activities./PN
