Palawan police seize P100K worth of smuggled cigarettes in Bataraza

CAMP BGEN. EFIGENIO NAVARRO, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro —
The Police Regional Office Mimaropa, under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Jovencio S. Badua Jr., scored anew in its campaign against the illegal cigarette trade on Wednesday, 22 October 2025, after arresting a suspect and confiscating about P100,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes in Bataraza, Palawan.

Reports received by Badua showed that at about 3 a.m. Wednesday, joint personnel from the Bataraza Municipal Police Station, Palawan Provincial Police Office, and the 3rd Platoon of the 1st Mobile Force Company arrested a 24-year-old suspect, identified only as “Hamzala,” after allegedly selling two master cases of Fort cigarettes and three master cases of New Berlin cigarettes for P13,500 to a police poseur-buyer in Sitio Sayab 1, Barangay Tagnato, Bataraza.

Authorities recovered approximately P100,000 worth of cigarettes, the buy-bust money, and related paraphernalia during the operation.

The suspect is currently in police custody pending the filing of charges for violating Republic Act 10643, or the Graphic Health Warnings Law.