MANILA: Customs authorities seized the biggest illegal shipment of used clothing (ukay-ukay) to date, with the haul from Malaysia and Korea worth an estimated P52.5 million.
The illegal imports arrived from Malaysia and Korea between July 4 and 11, and were intercepted at the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) in Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental, which is a sub-port of the Cagayan de Oro port.
Alvin Enciso, chief of the BOC-Cagayan de Oro Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, said it was the agency’s biggest seizure of used clothing yet, which is worth P52.5 million.
The shipment consists of assorted articles such as bed covers, bed sheets, pillowcase, blankets, bags, shoes and used clothing were stacked in 40-footer container vans, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Friday.
The contraband goods were consigned to Greener Pasture Marketing with address at no. 36 Acacia Street, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City. While the customs broker was Abel Avergonzado, of Purok Talisayan, San Nicholas, Buhangin, Davao City.
“By virtue of the 21 alert orders issued by Customs Deputy Commissioner Intelligence Group (IG) Jessie Dellosa, we were able to hold on to the shipment,” BOC said in a statement.
The 21 container vans were then issued with Warrants of Seizure and Detention (WSD) and Forfeiture Orders given by Ruby Claudia Alameda, district collector of Cagayan de Oro Port.
Enciso said some of the items that were inserted in the 21 container vans were not mentioned in their respective Import Entry documents.
“We discovered that some ukay-ukay smugglers ventured into a new modus operandi. If before, the declared items were a complete falsity, now, they admit that it is a shipment of used clothing, except that they failed to mention some of the contents,” he added.
