P.2-M fake cigarettes seized in raid

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – Police operatives seized fake cigarettes with an estimated value of P200,000 during a raid on a warehouse in this city on Friday.

Superintendent Raymund Liguden, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s anti-fraud and commercial crime unit, said packs of fake Marlboro, Fortune Lights and Jackpot were confiscated at the warehouse owned by Irish Apan and his wife Joy at Barangay Kapitan Pepe Subdivision at around 10 a.m.

The raid was based on a search warrant issued by Cabanatuan Regional Trial Court Branch 24 Judge Maria Victoria Soriano-Villadolid.

Liguden said they are looking into the Apan couple’s involvement in the distribution of fake cigarettes in Central Luzon.

He warned the public not to buy cigarettes offered by street peddlers.  “In all likelihood these low-priced cigarettes are fake and if you purchase them you are also committing a crime,” he said.