Around 273 containers of cooking oil were seized by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Barangay Patul, Santiago, Isabela on 26 June 2025.

The report was released by the CIDG on 2 July 2025, stating that the seizure of the P1,344,799-worth of cooking oil also led to the arrest of two Indian nationals.

According to CIDG Acting Director Police Brigadier General Romeo J. Macapaz, the two Indian nationals were identified as 47-year-old woman Kulvinder and 22-year-old man Kamaljot, believed to be mother and son.

Macapaz said that the CIDG Santiago City Field Unit, together with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Cagayan Valley Region, conducted a buy-bust operation in the barangay, citing that the cooking oil was not registered with the FDA and was traded without a License to Operate (LTO).

The official emphasized that it is the policy of the state to protect and promote the right to health of the Filipino people and to help establish and maintain an effective health products regulatory system, pursuant to Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9711.

RA 9711, otherwise known as the “Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009,” prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale, offering for sale, distribution, or transfer of health and food products without the required authorization.

“Since these food products have not gone through evaluation process of the FDA, its quality and safety cannot be assured,” he said.