Illegal drugs, smuggled cigarettes seized at NAIA, Lanao del Norte

THE Bureau of Customs Ninoy Aquino International Airport (BOC NAIA), in partnership with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG), intercepted 3 air parcels at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City worth P7.3 million while smuggled cigarettes worth over P3.5 million was also seized in Lanado del Norte.

Port of NAIA district collector Atty. Yasmin Mapa, said seized last July 26 from the parcels that came from the United States and Pakistan and addressed to recipients in the city of Cebu, Bacolod and Naga were 96 disposable vape cartridges, 486 grams of ‘kush’ marijuana and 975 grams of shabu. Their combined street value was placed at P7.39 million.

Earlier on, July 25, Cagayan de Oro district collector Alexandra Lumontad said she issued an ‘WSD’ (warrant of seizure and detention) on some 4,300 reams of smuggled cigarettes law enforcement operatives seized in Kapatagan and Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte.

The Bureau of Customs-Port of Cagayan de Oro (BOC-CDO), under the leadership of District Collector Alexandra Y. Lumontad, issued a Warrant of Seizure and Detention on July 25, 2024, against 4,300 reams of undocumented cigarettes apprehended in Kapatagan and Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte.

The illicit cigarettes were earlier seized separately by the authorities.

Lumontad also reported to Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio that together with the police and the military, the Port of Cagayan de Oro had already apprehended smuggled cigarettes in Northern Mindanao valued at P29.36 million since May 2024.