By Nonoy Lacson
ZAMBOANGA CITY – A composite team of different law enforcement agencies swooped down on a building used in the making of counterfeit cigarettes and cigarette-making machines in Labangan, Zamboanga Del Sur on Saturday night, March 7.
Labangan Mayor Eduardo D. Relacion said the combined elements of law enforcement agencies raided the building located in Purok Mangga Uno, Barangay Lantian in his town at around 9:45pm, Saturday.
“Representatives from Philip Morris and Fortune Tobacco Corporation also went with the group during the raid,” Relacion said.
According to Relacion the raid was led by Police Maj Jerome T Pamalaran of the Labangan Municipal Police Station and Police Maj Oscar T Buenaobra.
Also joining the police were operatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Customs (BOC) and from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), he said.
Seized during the raid were two six-wheeler trucks containing unregistered cigarette-making machines, and another six-wheeler containing the bogus cigarettes.
According to reports, the site has been used in the manufacture of fake cigarettes that were being delivered in the adjacent towns and cities in Zamboanga peninsula or Region 9, and in Cagayan de Oro or Region 10.
Last Thursday, a composite team also raided a cigarettes factory in Dinas, Zamboanga del Sur and confiscated about 5,000 reams of fake cigarettes, and a cigarette-making machine, with total value of P8 million.
The cigarette factory was located in Barangay Don Jose in Dinas town in the province of Zamboanga del Sur.