Published March 1, 2021, 3:01 PM
The Fight Illicit Trade (Fight IT) Movement has called on the government to tighten the noose on illicit cigarette traders as it expressed alarm over the rising cases of fake cigarettes being sold around the country.
Fight IT Chairman Jesus Arranza raised the concern following a court order that allowed the return of fake cigarettes and cigarette making machines seized from a raid in Pampanga back to the suspected illicit trader.
“We need intensified intelligence gathering, sustained enforcement thru more raids all the way to the successful prosecution in court of people involved in the illicit cigarette business to finally end this practice that has cost the government billions of pesos in revenues,” Arranza said.
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Published January 13, 2021, 3:05 PM
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has raised alarm over the security of seized fake cigarettes and manufacturing equipment which were ordered by a court to be returned to a suspected illicit trader.
The confiscated Two Moon and Soho cigarette packs that do not carry information on the country destination, details of manufacturer, and tax stamps as proof of payment as required by law. The master cases in the background are also unmarked contrary to law requirements that the boxes must bear the cigarette brand name.
The agency was slapped with an injunction by the Court of Tax Appeals following its raid of GB Global Exprez Inc., a cigarette company located at the Angeles Industrial Park in Pampanga which is supposedly engaged in the export of cigarettes.