Four men were arrested allegedly for smuggling after the commuter van they were riding crashed along the highway following a police chase before dawn on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. The drivers of the HiAce van and black Toyota Fortuner refused to stop when flagged down at a police checkpoint in Maasim, Sarangani, and sped away, almost hitting police officers. A chase ended up in Diversion Road, Gen. Santos City. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIGADA NEWS GENSAN
KORONADAL CITY 鈥� Four persons, including a Highway Patrol officer and a member of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), were arrested before dawn on Thursday after the van they were riding crashed along the General Santos City highway after a long police chase, revealing the alleged smuggled goods聽they were carrying.
Col. Nicomedez Olaivar Jr., General Santos City police director, described what happened as a dramatic police chase from Maasim, Sarangani province to General Santos City. It involved a Toyota HiAce van and an SUV used by suspected smugglers.
He said that the white Toyota HiAce van and a Fortuner SUV were subjected to regular inspection at a checkpoint in Maasim, but the two vehicles sped away, almost hitting the police officers manning the checkpoint.
This forced members of 2nd Police Mobile Force Company personnel to chase the two vehicles until they reached the diversion road in Barangay Sinawal, General Santos City, where the van flipped and rolled over, exposing its illegal cargo.
Police found several boxes of smuggled cigarettes inside the white van and three more boxes inside the Black Toyota Fortuner.
Four persons were arrested on the scene. One of them was a Highway Patrol Group member and another an officer of the PCG. The police withheld their identities.