P1.2 billion Vietnam rice seized at Cebu port, bigger than Subic haul

“We hit the mother lode of rice smuggling.”

Deputy Customs Commissioner Danilo Lim yesterday made this statement as he flew in from Manila to lead the formal seizure of what the Bureau of Customs considers its biggest haul of smuggled rice.

Cebu port authorities uncovered a total of 1,169 container vans of misdeclared rice shipments worth P1.2 billion from Vietnam.

“It’s probably the biggest in the history of (the Bureau of) Customs,” said Lim, a former Army general who is in charge of the bureau’s intelligence operations.

“Kung makalulusot ito, mas maraming makakagawa pa nito kaya dapat mas alert tayo,” he said.

(If this shipment successfully passes through, smugglers will be emboldened to go on with their illegal activities. That’s why we have to be more vigilant.)

Lim said the smuggled rice in Cebu was bigger in volume and value than the haul seized at the Subic Freeport Zone in Olongapo earlier this year.

The Cebu rice shipments were misdeclared as stone slabs, granite slabs, cooling insulators and cellulose fiber. They arrived in over 1,000 container vans at the Cebu Port on separate occasions from March 22 to April 3.

The sacks of rice intercepted could reach 600,000 sacks, higher than the 420,000 sacks seized in Subic, he said.

Asked if Cebu has become the center for rice smuggling, Lim said rice smuggling could happen anywhere in the country.

Lim and Prudencio Reyes Jr., deputy commissioner for Customs Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group, arrived in Cebu yesterday for the opening of 50 of the 286 container vans that arrived at the Cebu Port on March 22.

The sacks of rice had the brands Bochokoy premium white sinandomeng rice, Unicorn premium white rice, Doña Conchita gold fancy rice, Ruby Extra premium sinandomeng rice and Valentino premium grade sinandomeng rice.

An alert order was issued against the shipment based on information from outside the BOC, said Lim. The profiling of the shipment was done by the BOC’s Risk Management Office.

Lim said profiling was based on the origin of the shipment, in this case Vietnam, and the weight of the shipment, which was higher than the usual weight of the declared shipment, among others.

Lim said the eight consignees were identified as JJM Global Trading, Rm 212 Crown Building, North Reclamation Area, Cebu City; JM-ARS Trading, 308 3/F, Crown Building, North Reclamation Area, Cebu City; Neon Gateway Trading, Sta. Rosa, Poblacion, Alegria, Cebu;

Custans Enterprises, 3H Gemini Building, M.J. Cuenco Ave., Cebu City; Melma Enterprises, Rm 201, GK Chua Building, M.J. Cuenco St., Cebu City; NMW Enterprises, Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City; Ocean Park Enterprises and MMSM Trading.

Lim said the BOC would be profiling these companies to check their past importations. Based on BOC records, these companies had importations in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Investigation results will be turned over to the Run After The Smugglers (Rats) team, which in turn would make a study before filing cases with the Department of Justice.

Legal restrictions

Cebu Port Collector Edward Dela Cuesta said the seized containers could not be opened immediately although they were kept at the Customs yard at the Cebu International Port (CIP) since the law allows the consignee to file an import entry within a month after the shipment’s arrival.

However, no import entry was filed for the March 22 shipment so this were considered abandoned and an order of forfeiture was issued. The rice will eventually be offered for sale through public auction.

Reyes said Customs would profile prospective bidders to ensure that the consignees would not be among those who join the bidding.

De la Cuesta said the opening of the remaining 883 seized container vans would be scheduled as soon as the 30-day periods for filing of import entry of each shipment lapse.

No storage space

The National Food Authority (NFA) said it could not store the seized rice.

Nestor Rey Alcoseba, NFA provincial manager, said Cebu has available storage for about 200,000 bags, which is already earmarked for shipment scheduled to arrive on the second week of May.

The importation is part of the minimum access volume that is part of an international trading agreement with the Philippines.

Alcoseba said the presence of the 600,000 sacks of smuggled rice is not an indication of high demand for rice in Cebu or scarcity of supply.

Cebu’s consumption is a little over 20,000 bags of rice per day and the supply comes from different sources, he said.

“I also believe that they are playing with prices. They can sell it at a cheaper price but I guess it is not intended for Cebu alone,” Alcoseba said. /Michelle Joy L. Padayhag, Correspondent with reports from Norman V. Mendoza and Carine M. Asutilla