Police seize illicit cigarettes worth PHP 180,000 in Antique

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Police seized 360 reams of suspected illicit cigarettes from a tricycle driver during an operation in San Jose, Antique, on the morning of April 9.

The cigarettes, valued at PHP 180,000, were recovered from the possession of a 26-year-old tricycle driver identified only as alias Edwin.

Edwin was driving a Rusi Macho 150 motorcycle with a sidecar along Nietes Street in Barangay 8, San Jose, when operatives from the Municipal Police Station, Antique Maritime Police Station, and Provincial Highway Patrol Team flagged him down for overloading.

A routine inspection revealed boxes of suspected illegal cigarettes, some already exposed.

Further examination showed the cigarettes lacked Bureau of Internal Revenue excise tax stamps and did not comply with graphic health warning requirements under Republic Act 10643, or the Graphic Health Warning Law.

Edwin was placed under police custody and will face charges for violations of Republic Act 11346, or the Tobacco Tax Reform Law, and Republic Act 8424, or the National Internal Revenue Code.

RA 10643 requires all tobacco products sold in the Philippines to carry pictorial health warnings covering at least 50% of the front and back panels of cigarette packs, while RA 11346 imposes higher excise taxes on tobacco products to discourage consumption and curb the illicit cigarette trade.

The seizure is the latest in a series of enforcement operations against illicit tobacco in the province.

In September 2025, more than PHP 57 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized in a checkpoint operation in Belison, Antique.

A joint operation of the Police Regional Office 6 and the Bureau of Internal Revenue led to the arrest of seven individuals and the recovery of 1,142 boxes, or 576,020 packs, of assorted illicit cigarettes from three fully loaded closed vans.