By Mae Singuay

A P2 million worth of allegedly smuggled cigarettes were confiscated at Barangay Isio in Negros Occidental’s Cauayan on Sunday afternoon, February 12.

Local police arrested Dandy Calago, 28 years old, of Dipolog City; Rolando Lanario, 27 years old, and Joel Carvana, 42 years old, both residents of the province’s Hinigaran town.

An estimated 100 boxes of different brands of cigarettes did not have pertinent documents.

Last month, around P1 million worth of alleged counterfeit cigarettes were also confiscated from a Chinese national in Roxas City.

It was part of the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s first-ever simultaneous nationwide raids against the illicit cigarette trade, placing all regional enforcers on alert.

The government is losing P50 to P100 billion in tax revenues from the illicit tobacco trade, which is intended to fund basic services, including the Universal Health Care program and other national development goals./MS, WDJ