NBI, Customs agents seize unlicensed cigarette-making machines in Isabela
CITY OF CAUAYAN, Isabela –– Six machines used to manufacture fake cigarette brands were seized at a warehouse lot raided by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Customs on Tuesday night (Sept. 1), according to a belated report on Thursday, Sept. 3.
The machines were inside two abandoned trucks in Purok (sub-village) 2, Minante II village in this city, said Timoteo Rejano, NBI Isabela director.
Acting on a tip, two NBI agents and three customs representatives examined the lot at 6:30 p.m. and uncovered the machines, 400-rolls of plastic wrapper, and rolls of sticker tapes bearing the names of two popular cigarette brands, as well as eight Bureau of Internal Revenue stamps.
The building owner disowned the trucks, claiming the vehicles were abandoned by a former tenant.
On May 30, P1.3-billion worth of counterfeit cigarette brands, raw tobacco materials, and cigarette-packing machines were seized in Naguilian town, also in Isabela.
In a follow-up operation a day later, the BOC and local police raided an abandoned warehouse containing raw materials used in the manufacture of fake cigarette brands in Isabela’s Alicia town.
