OVER P32 million worth of suspected fake cigarettes were seized by agents of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in Balagtas, Bulacan on Sunday night, said PNP chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar.

The operations in Barangay Borol in Balagtas municipality also resulted in the arrest of two Chinese nationals identified as Zeng Qiangjian, 42; and Lin Shanxiong, 48; and their Filipino associates, John Bejay Agujar, 25; and Rodolfo Brosas, 25, said the top cop. According to the PNP chief, members of the PNP-CIDG under Major Gen. Albert Ignatius D. Ferro impounded a truck with pate no. CBJ 6630 found containing the counterfeit cigar products.

The recovered pieces of evidence include 27 cartons each containing 50 reams of suspected fake Marlboro Light, six cartons of Marlboro Red, 41 cartons of Marvel Red; 26 cartons of Jackpot, 41 cartons of Union; 14 cartons of Cambo, 167 cartons of Fortune blue, 49 cartons of Mighty Green, 637 cartons of Two Moon, 95 cartons of Fortune Green and 244 cartons of D & AMP cigarettes.

The suspected fake cigarettes were valued at P32.3 million.

Gen. Eleazar congratulated the PNP-CIDG for the Bulacan operation saying that it is another proof that the PNP remains focused on its law enforcement functions amid the pandemic.

“Patuloy ang mga iligal na gawain sa panahon ng pandemya and that is the reason we in the PNP are also not lowering our guard against them,” he said.

The suspects will be facing charges for violation of Article 189 of the Revised Penal Code, Violation of RA 7394 (The Consumer Act of the Philippines), RA 8293 (Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines) and RA 1937 (An Act to Revise and Codify the Tariff and Custom Law of the Philippines), said Maj. Gen. Ferro.

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Alfred P. Dalizon