Members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and local police arrested two men found in possession of counterfeit cigarettes in Barangay Patubig in this town on Friday.
Col. Lawrence Cajipe, Bulacan police provincial director, identified the arrested suspects as Tom Pua, a resident of Binondo, Manila, and Pastor Lumontad from Maragusan, Compostela Valley Province.
“The two suspects were arrested in a buy-bust operation on reselling of suspected fake cigarettes,” Cajipe said in an interview.
Seized from the suspects’ possession were 26 cartons of Two Moon cigarettes containing 50 reams in each carton; one carton of Marlboro cigarettes (red); one carton of Fortune cigarettes (green) with an estimated street value of PHP280,000.
Other confiscated pieces of evidence were 10 pieces of PHP1,000 boodle money, PHP1,000 bill marked money, and one white Toyota Hi-Ace with plate no. AEV 460.
The two suspects were charged with violation of Section 155 in relation to Section 170 of Republic Act 8293, also known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
Cajipe said the suspects will also face raps for violating Republic Act 7394, or the Consumer Protection Act, and the National Internal Revenue Code, whose penalties range from one year to 12 years imprisonment and fines of up to PHP200,000, or both.
The arrested suspects are now under the custody of Bulacan CIDG.
Source: Philippines News Agency
