Close to 500 bags of rice worth more than half a million pesos from Taiwan were recently intercepted at the Port of Cebu.
The Bureau of Customs said instead of the declared items, the shipment was found to contain a total of 495 bags of Myanmar White Rice on Monday, August 10.
It has an estimated market value of P525,857, the Port of Cebu said.
The bags of rice were intercepted following an intelligence report on July 23 that a shipment loaded with imported rice will arrive at the Port of Cebu from Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Investigation showed that the shipment's inward foreign manifest declared it to contain personal effects. It was also not covered by any Sanitary and Phytosanitary Clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry.
According to the bureau, it was consigned to a certain Theresa Lawas, of Barangay Pansoy, Municipality of Sogod in Cebu. However, verification with Barangay Pansoy confirmed that it had no resident named Theresa Lawas.
With this, Acting District Collector Mendoza reminded importers to properly declare their goods, and to properly identify themselves in shipping documents and encouraged the public to report to the bureau any information on illegal shipments that are attempted to be brought into the country.
“Report what you know, even anonymously, so we can verify, investigate and seize smuggled goods. This way, you are helping the government in our anti-smuggling campaign and bolster economic recovery during this pandemic,” Mendoza urged.
A week after receiving the confidential report, a pre-lodgement control order was issued against the shipment.
A 100-percent physical examination was then conducted by a Customs examiner in the presence of representatives from the Enforcement and Security Service, X-ray Inspection Project, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine Coast Guard and Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc.-Cebu Chapter.
A warrant of seizure and detention was already issied against the shipment for violation of Section 1113(f) and (l) par. 5of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.