Government forces seized two million pesos worth of alleged smuggled cigarettes in Lanao del Sur on Thursday, a military official reported Friday.

Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of Joint Task Force Central, said the military and police conduct law enforcement operation in response to the reported presence of a motorized boat unloading smuggled cigarettes at Sitio Ayunan, Tambara, Malabang, Lanao del Sur.

He said the combined elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 2, the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company, and the Malabang Municipal Police Station conducted a joint law enforcement operation, which resulted in the seizure of 58 boxes of undocumented cigarettes.

"Operating troops conducted elicited information in the nearby houses to identify the owner, but no one claimed to know the owner of the said smuggled cigarettes," he said.

Rillera said 58 more boxes of smuggled cigarettes were confiscated at the residence of a certain Mikhail Bilao and another two boxes at the residence of a certain Esmael Bilao.

He said Mikhail and Esmael were not in their respective homes when the smuggled cigarettes were confiscated.

"Overall, a total of 118 boxes of smuggled cigarettes were seized during the conduct of the joint law enforcement operation. The items were turned over to Malabang MPS (municipal police station) and Provincial Mobile Force Company for proper safekeeping and disposition,'' he said.

Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, head of the Western Mindanao Command, rest assured that together with its partners the military will continue to intensify its efforts to curb smuggling and other criminalities in the area. Robina Asido/DMS