ILOILO City – More than P5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized from two individuals during an anti-smuggling operation at Fullway Industrial Park in Barangay Tacas, Jaro district, on Wednesday, June 18.
Authorities identified the suspects as truck driver Ronilo Sanchez, 29, a resident of this city’s Molo district, and his helper Marko Delgado, 23, of Aklan.
They were caught in a joint operation by the Regional Maritime Unit 6 (RMU-6), Bureau of Customs (BOC), and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) at around 4:30 p.m. for selling P22,000 worth of cigarettes.
The suspects later revealed that more cigarettes were kept inside a warehouse. Two hours later, RMU-6, BOC, and BIR personnel conducted an inspection inside the Fullway Industrial Park and recovered 3,200 reams of smuggled cigarettes approximately valued at P4,845,000.
“We have been conducting surveillance for a few days following the information we received that assorted brands of cigarettes were delivered and kept in a warehouse in Jaro… We coordinated with the BIR in order enter the warehouse to know the veracity of the information,” said Police Major Janvier Gilza of RMU-6.
The suspects are currently in police custody, facing charges for violation of Republic Act 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act./PN
