Police and customs operatives lift machines used to manufacture illegal cigarettes at a warehouse in the Nueva Ecija town of Cabiao town on Friday (Jan. 17). INQUIRER PHOTO/ Armand Galang
CABIAO, Nueva Ecija — A billion pesos worth of illegal cigarettes allegedly manufactured by 29 undocumented Chinese workers were seized in a Friday (Jan. 17) raid in Barangay Sinipit here, police said.
Police detained the Chinese workers but freed 124 Filipino workers after they were interviewed by members of the raiding team deployed by the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Cabiano municipal police.
Armed with a Jan. 14 Letter Order from Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, police confiscated 13 machines used to manufacture the cigarettes with fake brands.
The team is currently investigating how the illegal activity was conducted at a warehouse owned by the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), said Capt. Rodolfo Gonda, Jr. of the BOC enforcement and security office.
Gonda said the factory was placed under two weeks of surveillance prior to the raid after residents complained of a foul odor coming from the area. Village officials were also barred access to the TLRC warehouse.