MANILA: The Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized 26 40-footer container vans of allegedly smuggled sugar and rice with an estimated value of P40 million at the Manila International Container Port here the other day.
Customs said around 13,600 sacks of imported Thai sugar were shipped in 21 container vans and around 3,200 sacks of white rice were packed in five container vans consigned to Rainbow Holding Inc.
“We were surprised to find that aside from smuggled sugar there are five container vans of smuggled rice na nakahalo. In the Bill of Lading, the place of loading of the sugar shipments were in Hong Kong but the rice came from Guandong, China,” Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Jessie Dellosa said.
“The markings of the sacks or packaging indicate that the rice came from Cagayan de Oro. But that can be likened to the firecrackers from China that we seized before which says ‘made in Bulacan.’ Hindi katakataka na ‘yan ang strategy ng mga smugglers ngayon. If they get caught outside Customs area they will say the rice were locally produced and not smuggled imported rice,” he added.
BOC said the shipments that arrived in four batches from July 16 to 22, 2015 were misdeclared as bitumen to avoid the required import permits from the Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) and the National Food Authority (NFA), in violation of Section 2503, in relation to Section 2530 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines.
Bitumen is an oil based substance used in road construction and waterproofing, among others.
Dellosa said the BOC will continue to seize all illegal importations of sugar “to protect the local sugar industry and our local farmers.”
