Colombian Governors Plan to Sue Philip Morris, BAT, Paper Says (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Colombian Governors Plan to Sue Philip Morris, BAT, Paper Says

Bogota, Colombia, May 12 (Bloomberg) -- The governors of Colombia's
provinces plan to sue tobacco companies Philip Morris Inc. and British
American Tobacco Plc for allegedly abetting the smuggling of cigarettes
into Colombia, said El Espectador newspaper. The governors of Colombia's
32 provinces said they are losing 500 billion pesos ($308 million) a year
in local tax revenue on cigarettes because of the widespread smuggling,
the daily said. They plan to hire a U.S. law firm to sue the tobacco
companies in a U.S. court, the daily said. 

Colombia recently stiffened measures against smuggling to rein in a $3
billion-a-year underground economy, cripple drug- money laundering,
increase tax revenue and attack unfair competition to local industry.
(5/12 EE 11A)