Smuggled cigarettes worth ₱2.8M were seized in Zamboanga City last Tuesday after police raided a storage facility in Barangay Baliwasan. Col. Melvin Laguros, head of the PNP Regional Maritime Unit-9, reported that three individuals were arrested and that authorities acted on information about smuggled cigarettes being delivered by a van. Meanwhile, the Philippine Marine and the US Marine Corps began a joint military exercise in Maguindanao del Norte on Monday, lasting until April 11. Brig. Gen. Romulo Quemado II, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade, stated that the exercises, dubbed MAREX 2025, include live-fire drills with 105mm Howitzers in Datu Blah Sinsuat. In South Cotabato, four alleged drug pushers were arrested in Tupi after selling ₱81,600 worth of shabu and marijuana to undercover police officers posing as plantation workers. Maj. Rovi Jardenil, Tupi municipal police chief, credited barangay residents for providing information on the suspects’ activities.
