Four individuals, including a Malaysian, were arrested after the police and the Philippine Coast Guard intercepted their boat carrying alleged smuggled cigarettes worth P3.88 million in Brgy. 2, Ilog, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, July 10.
Arrested were Basilan residents Junior Mahalial, 31, Plong Ibnain, 18, and Soji Toni, 19, and Malaysian national Mohamad Bohari, 20, all fishermen
Recovered from theme were 155 boxes of “illicit white cigarettes or untaxed assorted cigarettes”, the police reported.
Each box contained 50 reams of cigarettes, totaling to 7,750 reams with an estimated price of P3,875,000.
The suspects were intercepted by the PCG together with Ilog Police Station and Bureau of Internal Revenue-Binalbagan operatives.
The suspects are now detained at the Ilog Police Station while the cigarettes were brought to the BIR-Bacolod office.*