Camp Olivas, Pampanga—Some P3.9 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes of different brands were seized by government agents following a raid in three separate stalls inside the public market of Baliuag, Bulacan.
Police Lt. Colonel Jay Dimaandal, chief of the Special Concerns Unit of the Regional Intelligence Division, said four suspects were arrested, namely Lloyd Francis Dimaranan, 26; Victor Lopez, 58; Dorothy Dimaano-Sayo, 46; and Marilou del Rosario Torres, 46.
Dimaandal said the raid was conducted on the strength of a search warrant issued by a local court in Bulacan following a complaint filed by Japan Tobacco International against unscrupulous traders engaged in the sale of fake cigarettes.
The raiding team was composed of representatives from JTI, Tobacco Strike Force of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and intelligence operatives from SCU-RID and Regional Mobile Force Battalion 3.
JTI and BIR personnel made an inventory of the recovered items in the presence of the stall owners, said Dimaandal.
Seized from the suspects were 58 boxes of RGD cigarettes; 26 reams of D&G cigarettes; three boxes and 12 reams of Mighty cigarettes; seven boxes of Two Moon cigarettes; three boxes and one ream of Fortune blue cigarettes; one box and 13 reams of Marvel cigarettes; five reams of Marlboro; 11 reams of Jackpot cigarettes; and 13 reams of Champion cigarettes.
Dimaandal said the suspects admitted they bought the counterfeit items from a businessman based in Binondo, Manila.
