TAIPEI: Philippines Bureau of Customs personnel seized two more 40-foot shipping containers of imported garlic, following the confiscation of two shipping containers of garlic last week at the Port of Batangas.
District Collector Ernesto Benitez said the seized items have reached a total of 100 metric tons (100,000 kilos) valued at up to P40 million.
The garlic came from Taiwan. Benitez said the first cargo arrived in Batangas on January 16 and the second on June 25. The first shipment was aboard MV MCC Sandiwa while the second was aboard MV Rubina Schulte. The items were consigned to Good Earth Merchandise based in Cagayan de Oro.
Upon verification, Good Earth Merchandise does not exist in Cagayan de Oro and the shipments were under broker Antonio Enriquez of Guiginto, Bulacan.
“This is clear technical smuggling because the consignee declared the importation as 100,000 kilos of cocoa beans used in making chocolate drinks,” Benitez said.
Since the garlic was misdeclared, the shipment had no phytosanitary clearance as required by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for imported agricultural products.
Benitez said that after the confiscation of the two shipping containers last week, he requested security augmentation from the Philippine Air Force as customs officials gathered intelligence that a group was planning to retrieve the cargo from the port by force.
Benitez said authorities requested an alert order from the office of Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Jesse Dellosa for a cargo inspection.
