NBI operatives also arrested two Malaysians, identified as Tan Ah Seng and Tan Yan Teng. They were tagged as executives of Bumi Jaya International Corp., which allegedly owns the seized cigarettes.

The cigarette bust comes on the heels of bilyonaryo Lucio Tan’s concern over the surge in smuggled cigarettes into the country. Tan’s 50 percent-owned PMFTC Inc. reported a nine percent drop in sales volume to 26.8 million sticks in the first half of 2021.

The company cited the 44 percent jump in smuggling cases busted this year.

Armed with a search warrant issued by RTC Branch 97 Olongapo City, the NBI-Task Force Against Illegal Drugs (NBI-TFAID) operatives confiscated billions worth of repacked Chinese cigarettes, equipment used in repacking, repacking materials and several BIR tax stamps.

NBI operatives also seized 45,000 master boxes of assorted Chinese cigarettes with an estimated value of P1.3 billion.

Several workers who were caught in the act of repacking and pasting tax stamps on the questioned merchandise were detained for questioning.

The NBI said the merchandise seized in the operation would be subjected to further inspection to determine its authenticity and if taxes have been paid for the cigarettes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

NBI officer-in-charge (OIC) director Eric B. Distor said the NBI-TFAID would request the BIR to certify whether or not the seized tax stamps are counterfeit, in preparation for the filing of additional charges against the incorporators/officers of Bumi Jaya for violation of National Internal Revenue Code.

Distor said the cigarettes were sold in the local market in violation of Section 1423 (Removing or Repacking Goods in Warehouse) of RA 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act) and a violation of a Bureau of Customs policy.

Distor added that among the evidence gathered against Bumi Jaya were surveillance videos of the illegal repacking inside the warehouse, including the pasting of tax stamps.

Investigation by the NBI found that the Bumi Jaya group was the subject of a 2015 complaint by the Tobacco and Counterfeit Goods Unit of the European Anti-Fraud Office.

The anti-fraud unit had asked the Philippine government to conduct an investigation into Bumi Jaya in connection with the entry of smuggled tobacco products into the European Union.

The NBI found Bumi Jaya had no license to ship cigarettes to countries in the EU.

The post Lucio Tan’s headache: Importer of smuggled Chinese cigarettes falls in Olongapo first appeared on Bilyonaryo Business News.