Over ₱634 million illicit cigarettes seized in govt. round-the-clock operations in Mindanao

Joint BOC-DND-AFP team board smugglers’ vessel in Celebes Sea

On Mar 8, 2026

An unidentified law enforcement officer is seen guarding the MB SKYBLUE after it was seized by the Philippine Navy for cigarette smuggling as part of the government's relentless, 24-hours anti-smuggling operation in Mindanao from February 24 to February 25. More than P634 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized, according to the Bureau of Customs (photo: BOC-PIAD).

THE Philippine government is now demonstrating it can hunt down smugglers wherever they operate and that it has the unrelenting determination to smash their operations at any time during a round-the-clock series of successful operations last month in Mindanao.

In the first operation on February 24, a joint team from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) successfully boarded a cargo vessel in the Celebes Sea loaded with smuggled cigarettes.

The operation, the first time in recent memory that Philippine authorities conducted an anti-smuggling operation at the edge of the country’s maritime border with another country Indonesia), has sent shockwaves among criminal syndicates based in Mindanao as their days of impunity are now seen to be at an end.

In a statement, Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel F, Nepomuceno, a product of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) ‘Hinirang’ Class of 1987, said the joint operation with the Department of National Defense (DND) thru the Westmincom under Rear Admiral Constancio Arturo M. Reyes, resulted to the boarding of the ‘Sun Voyage,’ located some 52 nautical miles west of Kalamansig Port, Sultan Kudarat.

The boarding of the bulk cargo vessel SUN VOYAGE by a joint BOC-AFP team points to a highly organized and well financed criminal organization engaged in smuggling in Mindanao (photo: BOC-PIAD).

The Customs chief said they immediately coordinated with the AFP/DND on receiving “timely intelligence” on the “suspicious movement” of the bulk cargo vessel.

The intelligence suggested that the vessel has been clandestinely offloading its cargoes while anchored on the high seas.

On boarding the authorities discovered approximately 3,000 master cases of illicit cigarettes with an estimated value of ₱367.2 million.

Nepomuceno said the boarding team also apprehended several “foreign crews” whose identities have not been revealed as of this writing.

He added the vessel with its contraband and crews was towed for detention and proper documentation the next day at the Westmincom Naval Station Romulo Espaldon in Zamboanga.

The successful operation would be the first time that Philippine authorities conducted an anti-smuggling operation at the edge of the country’s maritime border with another country.

Commissioner Nepomuceno said the operation was carried out in strict compliance with the instruction of President Marcos Junior to intensify border protection and pursue smugglers nationwide.

Zambo clandestine cigarette factory smashed

Even as Customs and military personnel are operating in the Celebes Sea, Commissioner Nepomuceno said a separate team composed of BOC intelligence operatives and members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Philippine National Police (CIDG-PNP) are swooping down at a warehouse inside the Zamboanga Economic Zone and Freeport Authority in Barangay Talisayan.

The team, armed with a ‘LOA’ (Letter of Authority) signed by Nepomuceno, discovered a hastily dismantled illegal cigarette making facility.

Some of the stacks of smuggled cigarette master cases discovered after the boarding of SUN VOYAGE last February 24 (photo: BOC-PIAD).

The inventory estimated that ₱170 million worth of dismantled cigarette‑making, packing, and rolling machines, chemicals, industrial equipment, and raw materials.

It was not clear, however, if the warehouse representative who failed to provide proof of duties and taxes paid was taken into custody.

That same night, Customs Intelligence Field Office-Zamboanga, in another intelligence‑driven operation at a cargo handling yard, seized 336 master cases of smuggled ‘Black Hawk’ cigarettes valued at ₱41.126 million.

The shipment was declared as “seaweeds” to avoid detection and was promptly seized, the BOC said.

The following day, the Westmincom reported that a motor banca, ‘MB SKYBLUE,’ was boarded where a further 459 master cases of Cannon Menthol and Cannon Tobacco cigarettes worth ₱56.531 million were discovered and seized.

Commissioner Nepomuceno underscored that the heightened vigilance of the Intelligence Group headed by Deputy Commissioner (DCI) Romeo Rosales and the Port of Zamboanga under District Collector Elenita A. Abaño, were “central” to the success of the 24-hours crackdown operations.

He noted that sustained monitoring and their rapid response time disrupted multiple smuggling attempts across sea, freeport, and cargo channels in Western Mindanao.

Commissioner Nepomuceno also acknowledged the support of its partner agencies, particularly the DND, Philippine Navy, and the PNP‑CIDG and other inter‑agency units, whose close coordination and on‑ground assistance strengthened the government’s collective effort against illicit trade even in far-flung areas of the country.