Malabon motor chase leads to discovery of P1.5-B smuggled cigarettes
Authorities seized on New Year’s Eve contraband cigarettes, believed to be worth more than P1.5 billion, after chasing motorcycles that led them to a cargo yard in Malabon City, according to the Philippine National Police.
Acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. brought journalists to a press briefing at the cargo yard in Barangay Maysilo, where the contraband was found.
Nartatez said that members of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) flagged two motorcycle riders for supposedly not wearing helmets, but they evaded the operatives.
“The riders went in here,” the PNP chief told reporters. “When the operatives arrived here, the containers were already open. We suspect that they were stealing from here.”
In a statement, the HPG said it apprehended one of the riders, whom it identified only as a 47-year-old man, while the other escaped.
Inventory ongoing
While taking one of the riders into custody, police discovered 18 40-foot container vans in the yard containing the cigarettes, Nartatez said.
A 40-foot container van can carry up to 1,400 master cases, each typically containing 50 cartons with each having 10 individual packs of cigarettes, or about 500 packs, worth about P200 each.
According to the Bureau of Customs Enforcement Group chief Brig. Gen. Nolasco Bathan, authorities have yet to complete their inventory of all the container vans in the yard, but their initial estimate showed the cigarettes discovered were worth a total of P1.5 billion.
The HPG said they arrested three of the yard’s staff—three Filipino men aged 31, 44 and 47—for “failing to provide documentation” on the contraband.
“We’re still tracing who the owners of the cigarettes are. For now, we’ve identified the yard owner and we have the name of the truck owner,” Bathan said at the briefing.
The authorities did not specify the contraband seized in the operation, but the cited brands are not among the five types of Marlboro cigarettes legally made in the Philippines.
“The cigarettes really are imported. So, we will look for their information, their permits,” he said.
Nartatez noted that, depending on the outcome of the investigation, the owners of both the cigarettes, the truck and the yard may be liable for violations of Republic Act No. 12022, or the Anti-Agricultural Sabotage Act.
The authorities noted that Malabon City, where there are numerous nondescript warehouses, has shown an increase in illegal activities involving counterfeit and smuggled goods.
