Joint operatives of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the National Bureau of investigation seized 3.12 million packs of illicit cigarettes worth P358 million and eight illegal cigarette making and packing machines in a simultaneous raid in Dasmarinas City and Indang, Cavite on Thursday.

“Bahagi ito ng direksyon ni BIR Comm. Romeo Lumagui Jr. na paigtingin pa ang kampanya laban sa illegal na sigarilyo, para mapunuan ang bilyong piso na nawawala sa kaban ng bayan dahil sa ilegal na gawaing ito. Bukod sa nagdudulot ito ng higit na panganib sa kalusugan ng taong bayan, napakalaki din ng negatibong epekto nito sa ekonomiya ng bansa,” said Regional Director Eric Diesto, BIR Director for CABAMIRO.

Jesus Manapat, NBI IPRD Chief said, “This concerted effort aims to thwart illegal operations by organized crime syndicates, especially those involving foreign nationals, and to protect our people from the harmful effects of illegal cigarettes. By putting a stop to the selling and manufacturing of illegal cigarettes, we are also hoping to help bolster economic activities, employment and to provide our local farmers better opportunities.”

The operation led by Atty. Jason Torres, Chief, Regional Investigation Division, CABAMIRO and NBI-Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) Ex O John Ignacio is part of the government’s intensified campaign against the continuing proliferation of illegal cigarettes, which accounts to P50 billion to P100 billion losses in tax revenue annually according to the BIR.

The raiding teams seized 1.6 million packs of illicit cigarettes worth P184.7 million from the warehouse in Dasmarinas. The Indang factory yielded another 1.1 million packs of illicit cigarettes worth P126.6 million, with two lines of cigarette making machines and two lines of cigarette packing machines. Meanwhile, a separate factory in Dasmarinas also housed two lines of cigarette making machines and two lines of cigarette packing machines and storing 408,000 packs valued at P46.76 million.

Each machine line is capable of producing 175 packs per minute or up to 43.7 million packs a year, which translates to P2.7 billion in lost basic excise tax revenues if they continue with the illegal production.

Among the brands seized in the warehouse are Carnival, HP, Troy, Cannon, Victor Agila, New Orleans, Two Moon and Fort, which are all unregistered with the BIR and does not bear any tax stamps nor the mandatory Department of Health’s graphic health warning.

The authorities are pursuing a thorough investigations as 12 Chinese nationals were said to be manning the operations, while the land and the buildings were found to be on lease.

The bust was the culmination of the series of surveillance by the NBI to weed out organized crimes. Acting on the intelligence provided by NBI, the BIR issued Mission Orders to proceed with the raid.

“This is just the one of many BIR and law enforcement operations. The government is serious about the fight against illicit tobacco trade and we are doing everything to follow the mandate of the President to go after criminals,” Diesto said.