By CESAR JOLITO III

The Police Regional Office in the Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) has intensified its campaign against illegal cigarette smuggling, recording 283 anti-smuggling operations and confiscating contraband worth more than P195 million during the first half of 2026.

According to PRO-NIR data, operations conducted from January 2026 to the present resulted in the arrest of 52 individuals and the confiscation of illegal cigarettes with a total estimated value of P195,007,310.20.

The confiscation included the discovery of the illicit cigarettes in Negros Occidental’s Toboso and Hinoba-an towns, leading to the recovery and voluntary surrender of the alleged items worth a combined P87,000.

In Toboso, an estimated P75,000 worth of alleged illicit cigarettes were recovered after the discovery of three abandoned boxes along the national highway in Barangay General Luna’s Sitio Bebang at 3:30 p.m.

At least 45 reams of Bosqu cigarettes were found.

Police said the person who abandoned the items remains unidentified.

An investigation is ongoing to determine their source and ownership.

Meanwhile, in Hinoba-an, a 59-year-old barangay kagawad from Barangay Asia voluntarily surrendered eight reams of alleged smuggled cigarettes to police at around 4:50 p.m.

Police said the surrender was the result of the station’s sustained information drive, conducted in coordination with barangay officials, to discourage the possession and distribution of illicit cigarettes within its area of responsibility.

The surrendered cigarettes were estimated to be worth P12,000./CCJ, WDJ