Crackdown on oil smuggling begins

SAN FERNANDO CITY — The new police chief of the Ilocos Region began a crackdown on smuggling of oil products into the region through the Poro Point Freeport Zone. Police Chief Supt. Moro Virgilio Lazo said he will work in tandem with the Philippine Ports Authority and the Bureau of Customs in running after the smugglers in an interview at Camp Gen. Florendo after the command was turned over to him by outgoing regional police chief Ricardo Marquez. “We will first countercheck the accuracy of the reports,” said the new police chief whose regional headquarters stand on top of a hill overlooking the Freeport zone. Lazo was informed that although no one has been caught smuggling oil through the freeport, a mushrooming of independent gasoline stations selling cheaper fuel than the major oil companies was seen as proof that the only international port in northwestern Luzon is being used as the entry point for smuggled oil products. Refined oil products including diesel, regular, unleaded and premium gasoline sold by independent gas stations at cheaper prices by an average of P3 per liter compared to prices offered by the big three: Petron, Shell and Caltex.

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