The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has intercepted more than P101 million worth of onions and other agricultural products that were supposed to be distributed at the local market after their arrival at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the container vans containing the smuggled products were discovered during a series of inspections on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28. by the Customs Intelligence Group- MICP.
“They were mostly from China, and were declared to be certain products but turned out to be containing agricultural products such as red and white onions, mushroom balls, and sugar,” said Rubio.
The container vans, he said, arrived at the Manila port from Dec. 29, 2022 to Feb. 12 this year.
The assigned Customs examiners found red and white onions, mushroom balls, and sugar in shipments to three local consignees— RYY Consumer Goods Trading, MFBY Consumer Goods Trading, and M.S. Fab Builder.
CIIS Director Verne Enciso said alert orders were issued after they received “derogatory information” about the contents of the containers.
“Originally, these shipments were declared to have pizza dough, shabu-shabu balls like fish balls, and some pneumatic tools. But, so far, of the 22 containers we have opened this week, we already found agricultural products, such as sugar and onions,” Enciso said.
On Feb. 17, around P94 million worth of cigarettes and sugar were also seized during the series of inspections at the MICP, the operation was led by Rubio.
CIIS-MICP chief Intelligence Officer 3 Alvin Enciso said they immediately put on hold the container vans after receiving the report for physical examination.
“It’s critical for us here at the port to act swiftly on these matters because if these containers are indeed carrying agricultural products, then we have to coordinate with other key government agencies for the proper documentation,” said Enciso.
“Here, we’re not just on the lookout for contraband items like illegal drugs and such, but we’re also protecting our markets from the economic impact of smuggled agricultural goods,” he added.
For his part, BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Juvymax Uy lauded the intelligence officials and personnel for their swift action in the examination of the containers.
“While we aren’t done yet examining all these suspected containers, we’re already working on getting to the bottom of these illegal operations. Our good commissioner and our port officers and personnel are invaluable assets to the agency. With Commissioner Rubio at the helm, our teams are working day and night to protect our borders,” said Uy.
He said the District Collector will immediately be issuing the Warrant of Seizure and Detention (WSD) against subject smuggled onions and sugar for possible violations of Sec. 1400 (misdeclaration in goods declaration) and Sec. 117 (regulated importation) in relation to Sec. 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of Republic Act No. 10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
The discovery of the sugar and onion shipments came mere days before the bureau reported finding P1.4 billion worth of smuggled imported cigarettes in a warehouse in Indanan, Sulu during an operation there on March 2.