• GILBERT P. BAYORAN / THERESA MAE DULMAN
About P632,000 worth of suspected smuggled cigarettes were seized by the police on February 23 at Park Homes 2 in Barangay Washington, Escalante City, Negros Occidental.
The unemployed suspects were identified as 27-year-old alias ‘Mon,’ 23-year-old alias ‘So,’ and 22-year-old alias ‘Van.’
The Escalante City Component Police Station reportedly caught the suspects while in the act of unloading boxes of contraband from a black Barako tricycle at around 12:20 a.m. at Purok Homes 2, Barangay Washington, Escalante City.
Recovered items includes 509 reams and 78 packs of Bosqu, 181 reams of GTM, 167 reams of Cannon, 153 reams of Thunder, 102 reams of Oris, 94 reams of New Mega, 92 reams of 252, 81 reams of Three Star, 4 reams of Bison, and 352 assorted packs of other illegal cigarette brands.
The arrested suspects will be facing charges for violation of RA 10863, known as an Act Modernizing the Customs and Tariff Act, RA 10643, or the Graphic Health Warnings Law in the Philippines, and RA 8424, or Tax Reform Act of 1997.
On Feb. 16, the police also seized an estimated P787,500 worth of smuggled cigarettes during a mobile patrol in Purok Margarita, Barangay Balintawak, Escalante City.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla recently ordered a full swing operations against counterfeit cigarettes, following the dismantling of a suspected illegal cigarette manufacturing and storage facility in Tanza, Cavite.*
