Cigarette-making machines found in Zambo Sur town

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur – Authorities recovered on Saturday three cigarette-making machines loaded in a wing van abandoned in Labangan town in the province, some 15 kilometers from here.

Lawyer Moises Tamayo, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional director, said the machines recovered in Barangay Bagalupa were similar to the equipment seized in a factory producing counterfeit cigarettes.

The factory was raided Friday by authorities in Dinas town, an hour’s drive away from Labangan town.

“It is very seldom to find cigarette-making machines here (Labangan). Obviously,

you can see it is similar (to the ones previously confiscated in Dinas town) and there are also tobacco and cigarettes with fake seals (on this truck),” Tamayo said.

He said the machines were recovered after the NBI received a report that a wing van was abandoned in Barangay Bagalupa.

Further inspection showed that the van’s registered plate number was changed from CAY-1628 to AS-F682, Tamayo said, in an apparent attempt to hide its cargo.

“We believe the machines were transported to another place to evade the authorities,” the NBI official said, suggesting that the recovered machines were connected to the factory raided in Dinas.

Authorities said the machines were estimated to be worth P15 million to P25 million, and are capable of producing up to 600 master cases daily or up to 300,000 packs of cigarettes a day.

Tamayo said the equipment will be transported to the common evidence warehouse in Cagayan de Oro City “for proper disposition and destruction.”

He said they are pursuing several leads to identify the owner of the machines as well as the driver of the wing van.

Cases for violation of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and National Internal Revenue Code will be filed against the owner of the machines, he said.