Smuggled onions seized

The Bureau of Customs on Thursday seized at the Port of Manila onions worth P7 million said to be smuggled from Hong Kong.

Danilo Lim, BoC deputy commissioner for intelligence, said the onions were stuffed in two 40-foot container vans and misdeclared by the consignee, Shamoroal Enterprises, as household goods.

“As the holiday season closes in, we have stepped up the drive against smuggling to help rid the local market of cheap imported produce such as onions. There will be no holiday season for smugglers. There will be no happy Christmas for them,” Lim said in a statement.

In the coming days, he said, the bureau, as ordered by Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, would be focusing more on smuggled onions, garlic and other “hot vegetables” covered up with other import permits such as for apples.

Lim said he had instructed agents to strictly monitor imported goods arriving at the country’s ports.

He also pointed out that, “if the Christmas holidays are the peak months of smuggling, then we give our pledge that it will also be the peak months of the bureau’s anti-smuggling campaign.

“Our farmers and the consuming public must be protected especially during these times. They are the ones who deserve a happy holiday season,” he said.

Biazon, meanwhile, called on customs and other government officials to be wary on fake calls regarding importations and other related transactions.

In an interview, Biazon said a person claiming to be Secretary Ricky Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Office called him up but he immediately detected that the caller was an impostor.

A BoC collector at the Manila International Container Port also reported that a person claiming to be Biazon ordered him to prepare money for Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.

The customs office at Duty Free Philippines also received a call from someone pretending to be Biazon and soliciting P20,000 in cash prizes for a team-building activity.

“If you receive a call from someone using my name and other officials to ask for money, don’t entertain it. Just report it to us.”