MORE than half a million pesos worth of illegal vape products without permits from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Office of the Special Mandate on Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products (OSMV) were seized by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7 (CIDG 7).
The simultaneous entrapment operations were conducted on Thursday afternoon, August 28, 2025, in Tangke, Talisay City; Sitio San Miguel, Apas, Cebu City; and ML Quezon Street, Lapu-Lapu City.
According to Police Lieutenant Colonel Jerick Filosofo, chief of CIDG Cebu Province Field Unit, they received information from DTI-OSMV about the illegal sale of vape products. After obtaining the information, CIDG-7 carried out a test-buy operation and forwarded the samples to DTI-OSMV in Manila.
A few days after receiving the samples, the agency certified that the vape products were not registered and were hazardous for use. Following this, DTI-OSMV immediately coordinated with CIDG 7 to launch the entrapment operation against three vape shops.
“Yung information na yun is coming from them, so nag bato sila ng information dito at na receive ng ating RC (Regional Chief) si Colonel Nicolas and instructed us to validate the information, so nag conduct kami ng case buildup and validation together with the OSMV at nakapag test buy tayo,” said Filosofo.
(That information came from them. They sent the information here, our Regional Chief Colonel Nicolas received it, and instructed us to validate it. So, we conducted a case buildup and validation together with OSMV, and we were able to do a test-buy.)
He revealed that many vape shops in Cebu are selling this type of illegal vape. However, when shop owners learned that CIDG was making rounds, many closed their stores, though monitoring continues.
CIDG explained that the violation committed by the three shops falls under Section 4(D) of Republic Act 11900, or the “Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act of 2022.”
Products not registered with the DTI are considered illegal to sell in the market, and those caught selling them will face charges.
Legal vape products bear a tax-paid sticker on their packaging to show they are authorized for sale.
Four individuals, mostly store attendants, were arrested, while the shop owners will also face charges through regular filing, Filosofo added.
If convicted of violating RA 11900, offenders may face up to two years in prison and fines reaching P2 million. (AYB)