POLICE operatives arrested a policeman and his cohort for smuggling P16.1 million worth of cigarettes in Zamboanga City yesterday morning.
The PNP’s Public Information Office did not name the arrested policeman, who was described only as a 43-year-old police officer assigned in Jolo, Sulu.
It said the policeman was “identified as the owner of the smuggled cigarettes.”
Also arrested was a 55-year-old driver, a resident of Barangay Divisoria in Zamboanga City.
They were arrested by operatives of PNP units, led by the Zamboanga City police station, at around 1:30 a.m. in a law enforcement operation in Sitio Bactus, Barangay Talabaan in Zamboanga City.
Confiscated was an Isuzu Elf closed van loaded with 282 master cases of assorted smuggled cigarettes worth P16.1 million.
The suspects are under the custody of the Zamboanga City police, while the seized cigarettes were turned over to the Bureau of Customs.
“This operation shows that we will not tolerate smuggling and illegal trade, even if it involves one of our own,” said acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.
NArtatez said the PNP, under his watch, will be relentless “in cleaning our ranks and protecting the country’s economy from these illicit activities.
“The PNP stands firm to put an end to smuggling and corruption, because the Filipino people deserve a police force that is both dependable and incorruptible,” said Nartatez.
