A van loaded with suspected smuggled cigarettes was found abandoned in Sipalay City on Monday morning, April 6.
Police said the vehicle was discovered on the roadside in Sitio Canlayohan, Brgy. Gil Montilla.
Authorities responded after receiving a report from a concerned citizen about a white van left unattended in the area.
Upon inspection, police saw boxes of cigarettes inside the vehicle through its tinted windows, including packs labeled “BUSQU.”
The van, which was found without a rear left tire, was secured by responding police personnel.
Police are conducting further investigation to determine the ownership of the vehicle and the origin of the alleged smuggled cigarettes.
Meanwhile, law enforcers arrested a male suspect and confiscated smuggled cigarettes worth about ₱2 million in a buy-bust operation conducted in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, on Monday, April 6.
Joint operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Mabinay Municipal Police Station seized 40 master cases of branded suspected smuggled cigarettes along with the buy-bust money, the police reported.
The suspect and the confiscated items are now in the custody of the CIDG Negros Occidental Provincial Field Unit for appropriate legal proceedings.*
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