At least eight cigarette-making machine units with a combined value of about P200 million were seized from two warehouses in Pampanga as the government renewed its drive against the manufacture, distribution and sale of fake tobacco products.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Wednesday reported that Customs operatives, armed with two Letters of Authority (LOA) signed by Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, proceeded to the Global Aseana Business Park and San Simon Industrial Park in San Simon, Pampanga last week to conduct the initial investigation and examination.
In a news statement issued on Wednesday, the BOC reported that its operatives are now investigating two warehouses found to contain eight imported cigarette-making machines in San Simon, Pampanga.
“The operation stemmed from the information…that there were warehouses within the area that produces fake cigarettes using imported raw materials,” according to Customs Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) chief Director Yogi Filemon L. Ruiz.
“These machines can produce 400 master cases of cigarettes or 4,000,000 sticks per day,” he added.
According to the ESS, two weeks before the actual operation which took place on January 18, the warehouses were already subjected to surveillance by the Customs police.
The operatives padlocked the warehouses while waiting for the Warrant of Seizure and Detention to be issued by the District Collector of the Port of Clark.
Coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the local barangay were also initiated before the conduct of the operation.
Last week, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III underscored the need for heightened government vigilance against the illicit manufacture and sale of tobacco products, given that the increase in sin taxes has incentivized illegal traders to increasingly resort to smuggling and tax evasion.
The finance chief reiterated this directive during the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s destruction of unregistered and illegally operated cigarette-making equipment and machineries in Porac, Pampanga.
The BIR said that the destruction of the machines aim to discourage those who had invested in the costly equipment and machineries as well as to ensure that the devices can never be used by those with further interest in pursuing illegal cigarette manufacturing in the country.
The destruction was held at the DiGaMa Waste Management Services facility in Porac, Pampanga, with BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay and its other officials in attendance as well.
The destroyed contraband include units and parts of three filter maker machines, two packaging machines, and a cigarette-making machine, along with 484 master cases of various finished cigarette brands, and raw materials used in making cigarettes such as filter rods, tipping papers, packaging foil, acetate tow, and other supplies.