Subic Bay Freeport– The Bureau Of Customs – Port of Subic on Friday seized P60 million worth of smuggled sugar and firecrackers.
Acting on a derogatory information received by the Port, District Collector Maritess Martin alerted and ordered a hundred percent examination of the 35×40 containers which arrive from Hong Kong on March 31 and April 7, respectively, and was consigned to JRFP International Trading.
According to Collector Martin, 34 containers, misdeclared as floor mats and plastic floor coverings yielded 21, 760 bags of Thailand refined sugar, while the remaining container was found to contain several boxes of firecrackers.
Warrant of Seizure and Detention were issued against the shipments on April 12, 2019.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero immediately ordered the revocation of the customs accreditation of both the importer and the customs broker. Appropriate charges will be filed against them for violation of section 1401 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
‘We will not allow illicit traders to continue to violate our laws. The Bureau of Customs is consistently working on boosting our anti-smuggling measures through the acquisition of upgraded tools for inspection and examination and close coordination with our partner-agencies such as the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA), THE Philippine Coast Guard and THE Arm Forces of the Philippines to beef up our fight against smuggling,” Guerrero stressed.
Earlier, a thorough search was conducted with the presence of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority – Law Enforcement Department (SBMA-LED), to determine if there are illegal drugs stored inside the containers. SBMA-LED’s K9 sniffing dogs inspected the containers and found out to be negative of drugs. (Dante M. Salvana)