The Bureau of Customs seized cigarette-making machines and counterfeit cigarettes worth P131 million in a raid of two storage facilities in barangay Balagtas in Orion, Bataan.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said one of the first storage facilities was found to have cigarette-making machines and other materials such as rolling paper, foil and plastic packaging estimated to be worth P84 million.
Another warehouse yielded 1,262 master cases of fake cigarettes of various brands such as More, Two Moon, Seven Star, Winston, Fort, Mighty and Marvel.
The confiscated items were valued at P47 Million. The seized items were transported to the Customs facility in Manila for inventory.
“As the economy begins to fully recover from COVID-19 the bureau remains committed to combat the proliferation of fake and smuggled items and protect the interest of legitimate businesses nationwide,” Guerrero said.