Manila, Jan. 25 -- Philippine National Police (PNP) acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Sunday ordered a thorough investigation to arrest those involved in bankrolling large-scale cigarette smuggling operations in the country.

"Your Philippine National Police has been successful in confiscating every smuggled cigarette that we monitor in our intelligence radar. While arrests were also made, we want to dig deeper to identify the financiers and hold them accountable for their illegal activities," Nartatez said in a statement.

Nartatez's directive came after the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Highway Patrol Group (HPG)-Metro Manila teams intercepted PHP516 million worth of illegal cigarettes on Friday.

He said the PNP-...