MANILA: A Bureau of Customs official admitted Thursday they have yet to find guns or narcotics inside balikbayan boxes recently despite earlier records that showed illegal shipments of guns via balikbayan box.
Speaking before the Senate committee on ways and means, Customs Deputy Commissioner Jessie Dellosa said they have no recent record of guns or drugs smuggled into the country via balikbayan box. “So far, your honor, negative sa balikbayan box,” he said.
However, he said Customs has intercepted illegal drugs such as ecstasy pills in outbound shipments. One gun was also found inside a parcel, he said.
He said Customs agents have also found other contraband items in balikbayan boxes such as commercial goods in commercial quantities.
Some of the seized items inside shipping containers filled with balikbayan boxes including a used all-terrain vehicle, a jet ski and motorcycles.
For his part, Customs Commissioner Bert Lina said he has only been with the bureau for three months. He said he has received reports that balikbayan boxes can be used to smuggle guns and drugs.
Ex-Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said there have been apprehensions and seizures of firearms inside balikbayan boxes during his time as Customs chief from September 2011 to December 2013.
He cited the case of one balikbayan box seized in Cebu in March 2013, which contained a baby armalite and several pistols of various caliber.
He also cited the case of two Filipino-American law enforcers, including a customs and border patrol officer and NYPD cop, who smuggled high-powered firearms from the US to Philippine buyers.
“Ang tawag sa kanila gun running syndicate dahil regular na nilang ginagawa na napagpadala ng armas sa atin,” Biazon said.
A former head of the Customs x-ray project also said they found guns inside balikbayan boxes, which came from the US. She urged officials to identify “high-risk” and “low-risk” countries where contraband items could come from.
Biazon told senators the threat of contraband items entering the country via balikbayan box is very real.
“The mandate of the BOC is threefold: revenue collection, border security and trade facilitation and we cannot be lax on any of the three because that is our mandate,” he said.
