Fake cosmetics seized in Bulacan raid

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized P1 billion worth of fake cosmetic products, undocumented rice stocks and goods in a raid on a row of industrial warehouses here on Wednesday.

The BOC closed the warehouses at RIS Industrial Warehouse Area in Barangay Tabe here, according to lawyer Zsae de Guzman, chief of the BOC intellectual property rights division (IPRD).

One of the warehouses used as a factory for low-grade mattresses had been storing drums of toluene, a chemical also used in the manufacture of “shabu,” said lawyer Sonny Ricablanca, IPRD legal officer.

Among the items seized were soap bars, shampoo, liquid soap and metal cleaners. Some items bore labels with typographical errors and erroneous manufacturing dates. —Carmela Reyes-Estrope