By CESAR JOLITO III

Authorities intensified their crackdown on illicit tobacco trade after seizing an estimated P1.6 million worth of smuggled cigarettes and arresting a suspect during an operation in Bacolod City’s Barangay Pahanocoy on Wednesday, April 22.

Arrested was a 56-year-old man identified only as alias “Jun,” a resident of Negros Occidental’s Victorias City.

Police said the operation stemmed from suspicious activity observed by officers, who noticed several individuals unloading boxes from a passenger bus and transferring them into a white van.

When approached, the group fled the scene aboard a red pickup truck, leaving behind their companion, who later surrendered along with the vehicle and the cargo.

Recovered from the site were 33 boxes of menthol cigarettes, equivalent to 825 reams of tobacco products lacking the required tax stamps.

The seizure came amid a series of intensified anti-smuggling operations across Negros Occidental.

A day earlier, authorities arrested nine Chinese nationals and four other suspects after uncovering a suspected cigarette manufacturing facility in Bago City’s Barangay Calumangan.

Another storage site believed to be linked to illegal cigarette production was also discovered in Bacolod City’s Barangay Alijis.

Joint operatives from the various agencies recovered equipment used in the unauthorized production of cigarettes, including three loader machines, three packaging machines, and other manufacturing paraphernalia.

Authorities also reported the seizure of thousands of boxes of packaging materials and equipment valued at millions of pesos, underscoring the scale of the illegal operation./CJ, WDJ