THE Bureau of Customs over the weekend arrested 17 Chinese nationals caught making fake cigarettes inside a warehouse in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija.

The foreigners were rounded up during an inspection by agents of the Enforcement and Security Services (ESS) on Valmonte Street in Barangay Pambuan, Gapan City.

Also intercepted were fake cigarettes of assorted brands, six cigarette-making machines, cigarette raw materials, and fake Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) tax stamps stacked inside three boxes.

ESS director Yogi Ruiz said the estimated market value of the seized fake cigarettes, tax stamps and machines is P200 million.

The raid stemmed from the directive of the commissioner to inspect a warehouse owned by a Chinese national which is suspected to contain fake cigarettes and cigarette-making machines.

“It was subjected to a three-week surveillance by our customs police following a tip from a reliable source that counterfeit cigarettes are manufactured inside the warehouse,” Commissioner Isidro Lapena said.

The suspects consisted of 16 males and one female. They are from Hu Bei, Fu Jian, An Hui, and Xi An in China.

They are in the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Gapan for violating Section 155, 155.1 in relation to Section 170 of RA 8293 otherwise known as “An Act Prescribing The Intellectual Property Code And Establishing The Intellectual Property Office, Providing For Its Powers And Functions, And For Other Purposes.”

“We are still conducting follow-up investigation to confirm the identities of the suspects and the origin of the raw materials and cigarette-making machine,” the commissioner said.

“Aside from the ESS, the operation was coordinated with the elements of the Gapan PNP, Office of the City Mayor, and a product specialist from Japan Tobacco Industry,” Lapena said.

“The owner still has 15 days from the date of inspection to produce evidence of payment on the imported items, otherwise, a warrant of seizure and detention will be issued by the Bureau,” the Customs chief explained. (PR)