POLICE forces seized an estimated ₱11.2 million worth of contraband cigarettes and arrested two suspects during a targeted checkpoint operation in Barangay Marayag on Thursday morning, June 25.
A combined team from Lupon Municipal Police Station and the 2nd Davao Oriental Provincial Mobile Force Company, acting on a tip from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), executed the operation.
Authorities intercepted two separate vehicles driven by male suspects, aged 51 and 20. A subsequent search of the vehicles yielded approximately 400 master cases of illicit cigarettes.
The contraband and the vehicles were placed under police custody for proper inventory and legal disposition. Meanwhile, criminal charges are being finalized against the two suspects in coordination with state prosecutors.
In a statement, PNP Director General Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. praised the inter-agency coordination that led to the multi-million peso bust.
“We will not allow illegal products that affect our economy and the welfare of our people to infiltrate. We will continue to intensify our operations and coordination with other agencies to prevent such activities,” Nartatez said.
The PNP reiterated that it is intensifying highway checkpoints and coastal monitoring across the Davao Region to disrupt smuggling corridors, as part of its ongoing Bagong PNP para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign.
