BACOLOD CITY – Two men were arrested for transporting smuggled cigarettes worth P200,000 in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
Police identified the suspects as Omair Dirindigun, 25, and Sacaroding Sarip, 21, residents of Barangay 5, San Carlos City.
Police Major Ryan Villasario, deputy chief of the San Carlos City Police Station, said the suspects were taken into custody after they failed to present documents declaring the legality of the 390 reams of cigarettes inside their vehicle in a police checkpoint on CL Ledesma Ave., Barangay 1, on Wednesday, August 23.
Villasario said that according to the suspects, they were just asked by someone to transport the cigarettes but they did not reveal the identity of the person.
He said they will be charged for violation of Republic Act 11346 or the Tobacco Tax Law of 2019.
Villasario said they are probing if this incident could be linked to the P4-million smuggled cigarettes that were seized by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Barangay 5 on July 13.