On February 17, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) of the Philippines announced on its official website that simultaneous raids were conducted on an illegal cigarette factory in Bulacan province and three illegal cigarette warehouses in Barasuel, on the evening of November 6, 2024. These four locations are believed to be connected to the same criminal syndicate. Authorities seized raw materials, cigarette manufacturing machines, and packaging machines during the operation, and arrested six Chinese suspects.
The BIR has filed a tax evasion lawsuit against a criminal group amounting to as high as 8.5 billion pesos (1.5 billion US dollars), marking the largest operation in 2024 by the BIR against the illegal cigarette market. Director Lumagui stated that the tax authorities will continue to file criminal charges against large-scale illegal cigarette manufacturers and distributors, emphasizing that the production and sale of all illegal cigarettes in the Philippines is illegal, regardless of scale.
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