3 Sinos nabbed for illegal tobacco trade

Policemen arrested three Chinese nationals for illegally selling boxes of cigarettes in Apalit, Pampanga, police said on Saturday. In a statement, Central Luzon police director Brig. Gen. Ponce Rogelio Peñones, Jr. said operatives from the Pampanga Provincial Intelligence, with the support of the Apalit police, conducted an entrapment operation against the suspects at Barangay Calantipe at around 2:50 p.m. In the sting operation, an undercover operative was able to buy 10 boxes of “Modern”—a brand of cigarettes—from the trio using marked money to pay for the tobacco products.

“Upon arrest, the individuals failed to present the necessary permits or authorization to sell tobacco products,” Peñones said. The three Chinese nationals were read of their rights as crime suspects and arrested for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 9211, also known as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003.