The Philippine National Police has successfully busted a Chinese crime syndicate engaged in the manufacture of billions of pesos worth of illegal cigarettes and the operation of E-sabong in Negros Occidental, Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor C. Remulla said Friday, April 24.
“We uncovered a large criminal enterprise right here in NIR (Negros Island Region),” Remulla said.
Remulla, at a press conference at the illegal cigarettes factory in a warehouse in Barangay Calumangan, Bago City, said an active police major in Bacolod was protecting the illegal cigarettes manufacturing operations, and is not in their custody.
He is s currently undergoing debriefing because they believe he was not acting alone, so a more extensive investigation is underway, Remulla said.
The Bago warehouse where the illegal factory was found was being leased by the police major.
The Philippine National Police, through the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, in close coordination with the National Tobacco Administration, Police Regional Office Negros Island Region, and local police units, successfully dismantled the large-scale illegal cigarette manufacturing and distribution network during simultaneous law enforcement operations conducted on April 22 in Bago City and Bacolod City.
The operation led to the discovery of a cigarette factory in a warehouse at Purok Rosas, Barangay Calumangan, Bago City, and the arrest of 10 Chinese nationals, and a storage facility for its manufacturing materials in Barangay Singcang-Airport , Bacolod City, Remulla said.
Authorities confiscated cigarette-manufacturing equipment, raw tobacco materials, packaging supplies, labels, and finished cigarette products, with a combined estimated value of PhP 799,151,453.54 at the Bacolod and Bago warehouses. The Chinese syndicate engaged in the illegal manufacture of cigarettes are also believed to be the financiers of E-sabong operations in Talisay City that was busted Thursday, Remulla added.
The ten Chinese nationals arrested at the Bago factory are Fugong Jiang, Wu JianQun, Xu Ke,Li Hong, Ye Jun, A Yac, Tan Jing , Wu Shaobin, Eron Chen and Pan Zongxing, Remulla said.
Remulla said they are investing if they are illegal aliens and remnants of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
Since June 2025 they have been producing P250 million worth of cigarettes a month totaling P2 billion in eight months that have been sold tax free, Remulla said.
Remulla said the illegal manufacture and sale of cigarettes is costing the government billions of pesos in taxes intended for health care, he said.
They produce one pack of cigarettes at P20 and sell it P150 tax free, he said.
He also said the quality of their cigarettes stored in rat and cockroach infested facilities also are a further danger to public health, he said.
Police investigation disclosed that the illegal manufacturing operation allegedly began in the third quarter of 2025.
Authorities also discovered that the finished cigarette products were being distributed across Southern Luzon, Region VII, Western Visayas, and the National Capital Region, indicating a wide-reaching and organized illicit trade network. Investigators further learned that Filipino workers had allegedly been recruited and promised a daily wage of PhP 500. However, some workers were reportedly not paid as agreed and were restricted from leaving the premises, prompting authorities to examine possible elements of forced labor and human trafficking.
Charges have been filed against the arrested Chinese for violation of the he Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 because Filipino workers were rescued from the factory, and there will be more cases for violation of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act and other related offenses subject to further investigation, the police said. Remulla congratulated the police and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operatives fof busting the sysdicate.*
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