Authorities intercepted a 10-wheeler truck loaded with approximately P5 million worth of “smuggled” cigarettes and four bales of “ukay-ukay” while about to load a roll-on, roll-off vessel from Dumaguete City and bound for Siquijor yesterday.

“The Jacos Transport truck was set to load onto a Montenegro roll-on, roll-off vessel from Dumaguete City to Siquijor when the joint team stopped it at Berth 2 of the city port at around 6:00 a.m.,” said Coast Guard District Southern Visayas commander, Commodore Christopher Auro, in an interview.

The joint operation was launched by the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Ports Authority, and the Bureau of Customs.

Auro said they obtained an intelligence report regarding the purported smuggled goods heading toward the nearby province of Siquijor.

The officials seized the truck and its load, while the driver and two employees are on hold, upon finding that there were no legal papers for transporting the cigarettes to Siquijor, he noted.

The investigation is ongoing as authorities consider filing charges against the driver and his two companions, who claimed they did not know either the sender or the intended recipient of the goods in question.

Auro stated that this is the second case of cigarette smuggling in Negros Oriental that the PCG responded to this May, alongside other law enforcement agencies.

On the evening of May 16, in Basay town, a joint team of law enforcement agencies seized suspected smuggled cigarettes valued at approximately P40 million. (PNA)