Intelligence and investigation agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized around P77 million worth of red and yellow onions, believed to have been smuggled into the country from China, during an inspection of 18 container vans at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio led the inspection on Friday, March 10, after the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS-MICP) Field Office received information about agriculture products that have already arrived in the country through the MICP.

“The shipments are covered by several Bills of Lading and various goods declarations and are said to contain pizza dough and fish balls,” said Rubio.

Intelligence Officer 3 Alvin Enciso, head of the CIIS-MICP Field Office, said the inspection of the container vans confirmed the report they received about the arrival of smuggled red and yellow onions.

Enciso said that they have already intensified the anti-agricultural smuggling in coordination with the Department of Agriculture. 

In the case of the onions seized at the MICP, he said their arrival in the country was a clear violation of the DA’s Department Circular No. 04 Series of 2016.

For his part, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Juvymax Uy said the pizza doughs which were used to conceal the red and yellow onions were not covered by the requisite license and permit from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

This itself, according to him, violated the Republic Act No. 9711 or the Foods and Drugs Act of 2009.

Uy said District Collector Arnoldo Famor immediately issued Warrants of Seizure and Detention (WSD) against the shipments for violating Section 1400 in relation to Section 117 of the Republic Act 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), R.A. No. 9711 and the D.A. Department Circular No. 04 Series of 2016.

The BOC has been confiscating billions of peso worth of agricultural products, oil products and even counterfeit items. Recently, its operations in Pasay and Manila yielded almost P12 billion worth of counterfeit products.

President Marcos earlier tasked Rubio to ensure that the smuggling of agricultural products would be stopped due to its adverse impacts on the local farmers. 

"The BOC shall continue to maximize its intelligence resources and capabilities and intensify enforcement measures against unscrupulous importers and their cohorts to combat smuggling attempts, especially those involving agricultural goods which are inimical to our local farmers and businesses," said Rubio.