Agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) discovered over P1.8 billion worth of local and imported sugar and other items during an inspection in a warehouse in Nasugbu town of Batangas.
The BOC has intensified the inspections and operations against smuggling and hoarding of sugar amid reports of shortage of supply which forced retailers to increase the price per kilo, as well as affected the production of soft drinks in the country.
Acting BOC Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz said he issued a Letter of Authority (LOA) and Mission Order (MO) after receiving reports of the existence of large supplies of sugar at the Central Asucarera Don Pedro in Brgy. Lumbangan, Nasugbu Palico, Nasugbu Highway, Nasugbu, Batangas.
Agents of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) at the Manila International Container Port (MICP), backed with the police and the military, then swooped down on the area on Sunday, Sept. 4, and found an estimated 181,299 sacks—at 50 kilos per sack—of imported MITR PHOL brand pure refined sugar from Thailand, as well as some 197,590 sacks—at 50 kilos per sack—of the local Don Pedro white sugar.
“We consider this a huge breakthrough in our ongoing campaign against sugar hoarding. This may be one of our biggest operations to date since we started inspecting sugar storage facilities,” Ruiz said.
CIIS-MICP agents padlocked the warehouse pending the inventory of the products inside.
"Our team has temporarily placed padlocks, seals, and caution tapes on the entrances and exits of the warehouse," said Ruiz.
Several warehouses have been inspected by the BOC in the past weeks after the national government intensified the crackdown on alleged smuggling and hoarding of sugar that stemmed from a controversy on the attempt to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
Ruiz lauded the Batangas operation but stressed the need for the BOC to do more.
“Clearly, there is more work to do. As big as this inspection is in terms of what we have been focused on for the past couple of weeks, it seems some people or groups or businesses have yet to understand that we are dead serious about this mission,” Ruiz said.
“We aren’t stopping anytime soon, and working together with different government agencies—from the police to the military—showed what we can do when we pour all our resources and energy into doing what we are mandated to do and what the President had asked from us,” he added.