Cops ramp up crackdown as untaxed cigarettes flood Negros Occidental

BACOLOD, Philippines – Cheap cigarettes, suspected to have been smuggled into the country, have flooded the Negros Occidental market, authorities confirmed on Monday, October 14.

Colonel Rainerio de Chavez, police director for Negros Occidental, ordered police units in the province’s 31 towns and cities to be on watch for contraband cigarettes being brought into the area.

De Chavez said there were indications that the cigarettes were being smuggled via Mindanao and then taken to the Visayas, including Negros Occidental.

A recent raid at Bago Public Market in Barangay Makiling, Sagay City, on Saturday, October 12, led to the confiscation of nearly P1 million worth of untaxed cigarettes, police said.

Brothers Nasif and Sadie Amer, 25 and 21 years old, respectively, were arrested for selling the cigarettes. The two are residents of Purok Gardenia, Barangay Balintawak, Escalante City, according to the police report.

They will be charged with violations of customs, tariffs, and intellectual property laws, said Roev Bryl Sobrejuanite, head of the inter-agency raiding team and a representative of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Region VI. The team included the Maritime Command, Bureau of Customs (BOC), and Sagay police.

Authorities said they were also searching for three other suspects involved in delivering 23 brands of untaxed cigarettes.

In July, smuggled cigarettes worth P3.87 million were seized at the docking port in Barangay 1, Ilog town.

On October 3, the BIR announced it would step up the campaign against cigarette smuggling after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law on September 26 legislation classifying agricultural economic sabotage, including smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel activities, as criminal acts.

With the new law, De Chavez said authorities would ramp up police intelligence and operations against untaxed cigarettes being sold in the province.

Sagay City Administrator Ryan Bonghanoy said the city government is also stepping up its monitoring and surveillance efforts against smuggled goods in local markets. – Rappler.com