MANILA: The Wallace Line sea patrol led by the North Sulawesi Customs and Excise Directorate General arrested a Philippine-flagged vessel as it allegedly attempted to smuggle goods into the province.
“The vessel was caught at the end of October. On account of several reasons, such as completing our investigation and coordination with the Philippine Consulate General, we were only able to inform the public of the arrest today,” said Agus Amiwijaya, the head of the investigation and legal measure division at the directorate general, in a press conference on Thursday.
He further said the foreign vessel, identified as the Rod Race machine vessel, and its crew members were arrested while it was in Sangihe regency waters in North Sulawesi.
“They departed from General Santos, southern Philippines, to Tinakareng, Sangihe. The vessel carried five crew members and goods they would smuggle,” said Agus.
After an examination, officers reportedly found that none of the goods had proper customs documents. They comprised 708 bottles of Carlo Rossi wine, 60 bottles of Tanduay Rhum, 27 boxes of cattle supplements, 2,556 bottles of Coca Cola, 4,716 bottles of supplement drinks and 60 cans of juice, which were all confiscated by the officers.
“They are worth Rp 2.49 billion [US$ 186,723.47],” said Agus, adding that the sea patrol officers also seized the vessel and handed it over to the Bitung Customs and Excise Office for further investigation.
Agus said investigators had questioned all crew members. “They have been named suspects. They have been charged under Law No.10/1995 in reference to Law No.17/2006 on customs,” he said.
