Manila, Feb. 8 -- Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Sunday ordered an intensified crackdown on strategic transit and storage hubs used for illegal tobacco trade.

In a statement, Nartatez said smuggling activities recur in several areas, particularly in parts of Central Luzon and in Mindanao.

"We have to counter every aggressive move by these cigarette smugglers because this illegal activity involves billions of pesos of supposed taxes to the government," he said.

"We have to sustain our efforts to locate the smuggled items, dismantle all their networks and identify and hold responsible all those involved."

The directive came after a series of recent operations that led to the seizure of more tha...