Vietnam rice consignees nowhere to be found

Three of the eight trading companies listed as consignees of the biggest seizure of misdeclared rice shipments in Cebu can’t be found at the addresses given in their shipping documents.

Cebu Daily News yesterday visited their offices and discovered that the three companies were no longer holding office in the addresses they declared with the Bureau of Customs.

Neon Gateway Trading which was listed as located in Sta. Rosa, Poblacion in Alegria town in southwestern Cebu is not known in the area.

“There is no Neon Gateway Trading in our town,” said Johannes Jacuna, a resident.

He said Sta. Rosa is near the public market and a chapel and that the only store there which has been operating for many years is Rey Pharmacy, which also sells rice.

Melma Enterprises listed its address at Room 201 GK Chua Building in M.J Cuenco St., Cebu City.

When a CDN team went there, the place was being rented out by JDP Customs Brokerage.

A building management staffer told CDN no Melma Enterprise appears in their list of tenants.

“JDP has been renting almost a year and I am collecting the rent here and there is no Melma Enterprise in our building,” the staffer said.

Randy Taboada, an employee of JDP Brokerage, however said, Melma Enterprises is “attached” to the firm.

“As far as I know, Melma Enterprise is attached with JPD brokerage,” he said.

Custans Enterprise, which listed Gemini Building in M.J Cuenco St., Cebu City as its business address, has closed its office, a building staffer said.

Libeth Into, a collector at Gemini Building, said it has been two months since the office of Custan Enterprises shut down.

“They started to rent in May of 2012 and paid P5,500.00 for the office,” she said.

She said they haven’t paid rent for two months.

“We’ve been trying to call them but we did not get any response,”she said.

Into said Custans Enterprises has a warehouse and is engaged in the trading of plastic products.

She said a certain Marcos Aguado Custan, who is identified as the company’s proprietor, was the one who signed the tenancy contract.

Cebu Customs Collector Edward dela Cuesta told CDN fictitious information provided by the shipper is a major stumbling block that investigators need to surmount so that they can file appropriate charges.

He said it is the Customs bureau’s intelligence group and the Run After The Smugglers (Rats) task group that are handling the investigation of the smuggling case.