By CESAR JOLITO III

Two separate voluntary surrender operations in Negros Occidental resulted in the turnover of an estimated P126,800 worth of illicit and smuggled cigarettes to police authorities on Sunday, July 5.

Alias “Rod,” a 48-year-old businessman, voluntarily surrendered the illegal tobacco products to Murcia police at around 11:17 a.m. along Labaro Street in Murcia’s Barangay Zone II.

“Rod” informed authorities of his intention to surrender the cigarettes, which included two reams of Cannon Menthol, five cases of Cannon Menthol, and 10 cases of American Bison.

The confiscated items were estimated to have a market value of P1,800.

Meanwhile, in San Carlos City, a 58-year-old store owner identified by the alias “Osing” voluntarily turned over a larger cache of suspected smuggled cigarettes at the San Carlos City Public Market at around 12:30 p.m.

The surrendered items consisted of 58 reams of Cannon Menthol, 24 reams of Red Victor Agila, 17 reams of Bosqu, 15 reams of Nashville, and 12 reams of Bison, with an estimated market value of P125,000.

Police said all surrendered cigarettes in both operations were properly inventoried, documented, and placed under police custody before being turned over to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for proper disposition and further processing./CCJ, WDJ