The 17 Chinese nationals who have been arrested in Nueva Ecija for making and selling counterfeit cigarettes valued at P200 million will be deported and banned from returning to the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration said Tuesday.
Customs and immigration authorities raided a warehouse in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija on Aug. 17 after weeks of surveillance, and caught 17 Chinese nationals caught making fake cigarettes.
Confiscated during the raid were fake cigarettes of assorted brands, six cigarette-making machines, cigarette raw materials, and fake Bureau of Internal Revenue tax stamps stacked inside three boxes.
The government authorities raided the warehouse owned by a Chinese national after receiving an intelligence report that the warehouse was being used to make counterfeit cigarettes.
“It was subjected to a three-week surveillance by our customs police following a tip from a reliable source that counterfeit cigarettes are manufactured inside the warehouse,” Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said.
Arrested were 16 males and a female, from Hu Bei, Fu Jian, An Hui, and Xi An, China.
They will be turned over to the Immigration for deportation after serving their jail term for committing crimes which include the manufacture of fake products.
“We are still conducting follow-up investigation to confirm the identities of the suspects and the origin of the raw materials and cigarette-making machine,” the Commissioner said.
“The owner still has (sic) 15 days from the date of inspection to produce evidence of payment on the imported items, otherwise, a warrant of seizure and detention will be issued by the Bureau,” the Customs chief explained.
After inventory by the Customs authorities, the fake cigarettes and fake tax stamps will undergo outright seizure.