CAMP OLIVAS -- Twenty-nine undocumented Chinese nationals and 124 Filipino workers allegedly engaged in the manufacture of counterfeit cigarettes were arrested by police Friday afternoon, January 17, in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija.

Joint operatives of the Special Concern Unit-Regional Intelligence Division, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Central Luzon, Regional Mobile Force Battalion, Cabiao Municipal Police Station, JTI International and Bureau of Customs conducted an operation against the anti-illicit manufacturers of cigarettes in Barangay Sinipit, Cabiao, Nueva Ecija.

The seized items include five lines of cigarette-making machines, five lines of packing machines, one mixing machine, one filter machine, two grinders and an undetermined number of master cases of fake cigarettes.

Police Regional Office-Central Luzon Director Rhodel Sermonia said all items confiscated are worth more or less P1 billion.

Meanwhile, coordination was made with the Bureau of Customs for filing of appropriate charges in relation to Republic Act 10983 (Intellectual Property Rights) against the suspects and the Bureau of Immigration for proper disposition of the undocumented Chinese nationals.

"We continue to conduct police operation against all forms of criminality to attain our goal of a safer place, to live, work and do business," Sermonia said. (PR)