151,000 sacks of smuggled rice held

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Top politicians in the province of Sulu are behind the attempt to smuggle rice through this city’s port which was foiled with the seizure of the cargo on Monday, according to a ranking customs official.

Jessie Dellosa, deputy customs commissioner and former Armed Forces chief of staff, said the rice cargo was intended for markets in Western Mindanao.

“Top Sulu politicians owned the smuggled rice,” Dellosa said on Tuesday. He refused to identify the suspected smugglers. “Not now, just top Sulu politicians,” he said.

Law enforcers, including personnel from the Philippine Navy, on Monday intercepted five vessels off Pata Island in Sulu around 3:25 a.m.

Rear Admiral Reynaldo Yoma, head of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, had said up to 130,000 sacks of rice were seized from the vessels by two Navy units under Lt. Commander Richard Rosales and a unit of the Marines under 1Lt. Leonelle Marvin Mapalo.

Among the apprehended vessels is the Vietnam-registered MV An Bien-89-ALCI. Its 16 crewmen and captain, Nguyen Van Loi, had been taken into custody.

Seized from the foreign vessel were 116,000 sacks of imported rice consigned to an Alfarsi Tan Hasiman of Jolo, Sulu.

Reports from law enforcers said the foreign vessel arrived on Feb. 19 from the Mythoi Port in Vietnam with 151,000 sacks of rice. It started to transfer its cargo on Feb. 20 off Pata Island to local vessels that are to transport the contraband to various Mindanao areas.

Aside from the Vietnam registered ship, four more local vessels were also seized as they were loading rice on Monday. The crew of the vessels had also been taken into custody.

These were MV Delta Queen, which was loaded with 20,000 sacks of smuggled rice earlier unloaded from the Vietnamese cargo ship, ML Boy1, which also had 7,000 sacks unloaded from the same foreign vessel and its additional cargo of nine assault rifles, ML Fatima Nurmina with 1,000 sacks of rice and two assault rifles, and ML KH, loaded with 7,000 sacks also from the Vietnamese cargo vessel.

The value of the seized shipment was estimated at P151 million.

Aside from the rice cargo, law enforcers also seized 20 high- powered firearms.

Customs Commissioner John Sevilla said it was a big haul for the government.

Inquirer sources pointed to the Tans as the ones being referred to by Dellosa but Sulu Vice Gov. Abdusakur Tan denied involvement in the smuggling attempt.

“I have no knowledge about that and I do not need to engage in smuggling,” Tan said by phone when reached on Tuesday.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the committee on agriculture and food, told the Inquirer during the hearing on rice and sugar smuggling activities conducted here on Tuesday, that officials were hoping to unmask the persons involved in smuggling here.

“Hopefully we can identify them and find out what their modus operandi is and what the government can do to minimize smuggling,” Villar said.

She said she hoped witnesses could also help identify those behind smuggling. She added, however, that she believed those behind the smuggling wield influence through their wealth.

“We have to assume that they are rich because they could not do that if they were not rich,” said Villar. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao