TARLAC CITY — Two men were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay San Rafael here on August 1 for allegedly selling suspected counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products without the required graphic health warnings.
Police identified the suspects as Rolando Mangupag, 58, of Paniqui, Tarlac, and Hernie Posadas, 41, of Sampaloc, Manila, caught in the act of selling the illicit goods to a police poseur-buyer along MacArthur Highway at around 4:20 p.m.
The entrapment was carried out by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Tarlac Provincial Field Unit, with support from the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI) and the Tarlac City Police Station.
Confiscated during the operation were one genuine ₱500 bill dusted with UV fluorescent powder, 74 photocopied ₱500 bills, two master cases of cigarettes or 50 reams each from the buy-bust transaction, an additional 61 master cases of cigarettes or 50 reams each recovered in plain view, and an Isuzu closed van believed to have been used in transporting the contraband.
Authorities estimated the total value of the seized tobacco products at ₱2.24 million. Police said the confiscated items did not comply with the standards under RA 10643 (Graphic Health Warning Law), and RA 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines).
The suspects and seized evidence were brought to the CIDG Tarlac office for documentation, and criminal complaints are being prepared for filing before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Tarlac City. Press release
