Some P2 billion worth of fake cigarettes were seized by operatives of the Bureau of Customs in five warehouses inside the San Simon Industrial Park in San Simon, Pampanga.
The BOC seized the items bearing “Marvel” and “Mighty” from the warehouses located at Block 3 Lot 19, Block 9 Lot 6 and Block 8 Lot15.
Fake tax stamps were also found affixed to the boxes of cigarettes seized, Customs personnel said.
The raid was led by Customs team leader Cleo Dongga-as, and was made possible through a Letter of Authority signed by Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.
According to Dongga-as, the warehouses will be sealed awaiting the inspection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue on the tax stamps. Military personnel from the Office of Commissioner were assigned to guard the said warehouses.
The tax stamps should register a green light under a scanner, according to Norma del Rosario of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS). However, all the seized packs registered red lights.
It was not yet known if the products are indeed from Mighty Corp or who owned the products stored in the warehouses.
One source said that one warehouse had 20,000 master cases which would have 50 reams of cigarettes each.
This means that one warehouse would have housed one million reams, and that some P300M in potential excise tax is considered foregone revenues for the government.
The BIR has not yet made an actual inventory of the products.