Cop tagged in illegal cigarette production

BACOLOD CITY – Following the destruction of a large-scale illegal cigarette production and distribution network in Negros Occidental, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) tagged a police officer as a protector of the illegal activity involving Chinese nationals.

At a press briefing on Friday, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla revealed that the syndicate behind the production and distribution of illegal cigarettes is being protected by a police major.

A joint operation of the police and the National Tobacco Administration in the cities of Bago and Bacolod recently resulted in the seizure of equipment used in cigarette production, raw materials, packaging supplies, labels and finished products valued at P799 million.

Ten Chinese nationals were arrested during the raid on a warehouse in Barangay Calumangan, Bago City.

The raiding team rescued 15 Filipino workers including a minor who had been prohibited by their employers from going out of the warehouse.

Remulla said the illegal activity started in June last year, producing P250 million worth of cigarettes every month.

Within eight months, the syndicate earned an estimated income of P2 billion, he said.

The illegal cigarettes were distributed in Southern Tagalog, Central and Western Visayas, and the National Capital Region.

Since December, Remulla said that about P4 billion worth of illegal cigarettes have been seized in Luzon as well as in Cebu and Negros.

The Negros Island Region police said it is investigating the involvement of the police major, who allegedly leased the warehouse and turned it into a factory.