P9M ‘red onions’ seized at Subic

ANOTHER attempt to smuggle agricultural products into the country went for naught after alert customs officers at the Port of Subic (PoS) apprehended a shipment of undeclared ‘red onions’ from China worth more than P9 million.

Atty. Maritess Martin, PoS district collector, in a report to Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner, Rey Leonardo Guerrero, said the shipment, on board 3X40 container vans, has been pending at the port since its arrival last May 29, 2021, consigned to ‘Gingarnion Agri Trading.’

Martin said the consignee tried to evade apprehension by declaring the shipment as ‘Fresh Yellow Onion’ after filing the customs declaration last June 8, 2021.

However, on actual inspection, the shipment was discovered to actually contain red onion, with the consignee also failing to secure the required ‘SPSIC’ (sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance) from the Department of Agriculture.

Martin also commended the local units of the Customs Police (ESS) and the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) headed by Verne Enciso, for the successful apprehension.

Meanwhile, the bureau’s Action Team Against Smugglers (BATAS), further increased to 40 cases the number of cases it has filed against erring importers and their customs brokers since the start of the year.

In a report, deputy commissioner for revenue collection and monitoring (RCMG) Atty. Vener Baquiran, head of BATAS, charged last June 4, 2021, before the Department of Justice (DOJ) were the owners and customs brokers of ‘G Arabia Platinum Construction & Development Company’ and, ‘Emego General Merchandize.’

G Arabia is accused of misdeclaring 3 imported 2018 model cargo trucks and bringing then into the country without the required clearance from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The cargo trucks, amounting to P2.44 million, were shipped last December 14, 2020 at Port of Manila.

The importer and the signing customs brokers are facing one count for violation of the pertinent provisions of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA); Executive Order No. 877-A otherwise known as “The Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Development Program;” and, the Revised Penal Code.

Emego, for its part, is also accused of misdeclaring its shipment of ‘general merchandize’ worth more than P1.95 million on its arrival last January 24, 2021, also at the POM.

The shipment was later on found to actually consist of used clothing (“ukay-ukay”) a banned item under RA 4653.