AUTHORITIES have arrested nine people and seized some P27.4 million worth of contraband in a law enforcement operation in Zamboanga City, the police reported Saturday, January 27, 2024.
The local police identified the arrested persons as the following: Roger Anih; 39; Edgar Salomia, 37; Sisal Anih, 28; Tony Lasad, 27; Asulla Sala, 42; Moh. Isa Patta, 31; Ansal Muksan, 38; Rosten Mundin, 34; and Alphine Manood, 30.
Police Colonel Alexander Lorenzo, Zamboanga City Police Office director, said they were arrested around 10:30 p.m. Friday, January 26, at the seaside in Baliwasan village, Zamboanga City.
Lorenzo said the joint team of policemen and Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel were conducting patrol when they chanced upon a motorboat marked JFM2 in the vicinity of a private wharf in Baliwasan village.
Upon inspection, he said the team found the motorboat to be loaded with some 482 master cases of cigarettes worth P27.4 million.
Lorenzo said the cigarettes were seized and the people aboard the motorboat arrested after no one among them was able to present documents of their cargo.
He said the arrested nine people, the motorboat and the cigarettes were turned over to the BOC for proper disposition. (SunStar Zamboanga)
