PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. vowed to intensify the agency’s intelligence operations to locate and shut down all illegal cigarette factories across the country.
In a statement, Nartatez said he directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Police Regional Offices to treat illegal cigarette factories as high-impact economic crimes.
The top cop made the statement following the PNP’s inspection of an illegal factory in Mexico, Pampanga on February 4, along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
“We cannot allow these people to operate because our government is losing billions of pesos that are supposed to be used for social services. We have intensified our intelligence-gathering to track down these illegal factories and arrest those behind their operation,” he said.
Based on PNP estimates, the Pampanga illegal factory can produce P150 million worth of cigarettes a day.
The illegal facility reportedly produced and distributed P4.5 billion worth of cigarettes since it started operations on January 1 this year.
Police intelligence reports stated that at least 10 illegal cigarette factories exist and are now targets of the PNP in coordination with the BOC.
The PNP chief stressed that the campaign will go beyond arrests and will focus on building strong cases that will lead to convictions and the dismantling of entire criminal networks involved in the illicit trade.
“We will not stop at arresting them. Our goal is always to build a strong case to ensure conviction,” Nartatez said.
“Kung may indikasyon ng human trafficking, forced labor, o exploitation, isasama rin po natin ang Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. Gusto natin na matibay ang ebidensiya—financial records, testimonies, at linkages—para hindi basta makakalusot ang mga sindikato,” he added.
(If there are indications of human trafficking, forced labor, or exploitation, we will also include the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. We want solid evidence—financial records, testimonies, and linkages—so syndicates cannot easily escape liability.)
Nartatez said authorities are also zeroing in on the financial trail and other crucial pieces of evidence that could lead to the financiers of cigarette smuggling activities in the country.
He said the focus of the investigation has shifted beyond the physical site of the illegal operation and toward the people funding and protecting it, including two Northern Luzon politicians tagged as possible financiers.
DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla highlighted the importance of police-initiated anti-smuggling operations, citing the limited number of BOC personnel.
Compared to the BOC, which has only about 5,000 personnel, Remulla said the PNP has more than 230,000 personnel who can be tapped for anti-smuggling operations.
Since last year, anti-smuggling operations have yielded at least P10 billion worth of smuggled items.
On December 31 last year, the PNP’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) discovered P1.1 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes in Batangas City while conducting a follow-up operation on a stolen car.
The following day, HPG operatives also seized P1.5 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes in Malabon.
Late January, HPG operatives confiscated over P220 million worth of Apple products with questionable documents in Quezon City.
Both the CIDG and HPG were also behind a series of seizures of smuggled products worth millions of pesos in recent weeks.
The series of successful anti-smuggling operations by the PNP came as the BOC is reportedly facing internal issues after two of its personnel—Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Thomas Narcise and CIIS Port of Manila head Paul Oliver Pacunayen—were named in a complaint sent to President Marcos over allegations of a resurgence in smuggling activities.
The BOC has yet to complete its investigation into the two officials.
Remulla, however, said there was nothing wrong with the operations, noting that the BOC has always been with the PNP during enforcement activities.
“Sila ang kasama namin, it’s a joint effort,” Remulla said.
(They are with us—it’s a joint effort.)
“As soon as we have word, sila rin ang nag-iinvestigate at sila rin ang nagqu-qualify,” he added.
(As soon as we get information, they are also the ones investigating and qualifying the cases.) (TPM/SunStar Philippines)