INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines – An inspection of a warehouse in Parañaque City has yielded around P85 million worth of smuggled frozen agricultural and beverage products, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported on Sunday.
Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the operation was conducted after he issued a Letter of Authority (LOA) by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP) on Sept. 5.
Rubio said operatives of the CIIS-MICP served the LOA to a representative of the warehouse that was found containing various poultry, meat and other products from China suspected to be without proper customs duties and taxes.
“The audacity of these people to smuggle and hide agricultural products right in the heart of Metro Manila is beyond me. They belittle our laws and make a mockery of our hardworking Customs agents by thinking they can operate these illegal activities just a few kilometers from our port,” he said in a statement.
BOC-CIIS Director Verne Enciso said they found frozen duck meat, chicken meat, pork meat and food items with Chinese markings, and assorted food and beverage with foreign markings.
“The initial inventory found that these poultry products will amount to about PHP85 million in the market. But we’re still determining the actual cost once final inventory is conducted by our examiners,” he said.
The warehouse was temporarily padlocked and sealed to protect the subjected goods as the final inventory will be conducted by the assigned Customs examiner and witnessed by warehouse representatives, CIIS and Enforcement and Security Service.
The owners of the warehouses will be given 15 days to present the proper documents to clear out allegations they were hoarding imported agricultural products.
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If found without proper documents, the corresponding seizure and forfeiture proceedings will be conducted against the subject shipments for violation of Section 1400 (misdeclaration in goods declaration) in relation to Section 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of Republic Act No. 10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
The operation was conducted in coordination with the Department of Agriculture Inspectorate and Enforcement and the Philippine Coast Guard.