COTABATO CITY: Police in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) seized PHP17.5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in the last five days, an official said Monday.
‘This is proof that smuggling has no place in BARMM,’ Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, chief of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), said in a news release.
The series of anti-smuggling operations from Aug. 7 to 11 were conducted in the provinces of Maguindanao Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; cities of Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan; and Special Geographic Area in North Cotabato.
Tanggawohn said the operations also resulted in the arrest of 74 law offenders, including 20 suspected drug peddlers and dealers.
‘In the campaign against loose firearms, police facilitated the surrender of 14 assorted firearms and ammunition,’ he said.
In Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur, the PRO-BAR reported the surrender of three members of a local terrorist group with high-powered
firearms on Aug. 8.
Over the weekend, eight members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters yielded to authorities in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur.
They turned in high-powered firearms, rifle grenades, and light machine guns in order to avail of the government’s peace offer.
Source: Philippines News Agency
