THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) under Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, announced the successful interdiction of 407 kilos of shabu mixed in a shipment of ‘Crispo Vermicelli’ noodles and ‘custard sauce’ at the Port of Manila worth at least P2.64 billion, the first major apprehension of smuggled drugs this year.
At a joint press conference at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on February 6, BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence (DCI) Juvymax Uy, said their careful profiling and backtracking resulted to the discovery of the illegal drugs brought into the country by ‘Redshinting Consumer Goods and Trading.’
DCI Uy told Pinoy Exposé the shipment has been flagged ‘Red’ under the bureau’s ‘Selectivity System’ that necessitated closer scrutiny and actual physical inspection of its contents.
He said the inspection took place last January 23 at the Port of Manila (POM) in a transparent manner as witnessed by representatives from the NBI, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force (CAIDTF), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), X-ray Inspection Project (XIP), Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc. (CCBI), Department of Justice (DOJ) and barangay officials.
The information on the shipment was provided by the NBI.
“After receiving derogatory information from our counterparts, we promptly requested the issuance of an alert order and conducted a 100 percent physical examination of the subject shipment.
“Our agents discovered white crystalline substances concealed within the packaging of Kirkland Organic Dried Mango,” said CIIS Director Verne Enciso.
Of the 698 boxes in the shipment, 58 boxes were found positive, with 407 packs of suspected shabu hidden inside, each weighing approximately one kilo.
At the current street value of P6.5 million per kilo, the total value of the seized illegal drugs amounts to P2,645,500,000, Enciso noted further.
The apprehension would be the third major shabu seizure at the point of entry by the BOC under the Marcos administration when 530 kilos of shabu worth P3.8 billion were seized at the Port of Subic in September 2023 (Pinoy Exposé, September 29, 2023), followed by the confiscation of 324 kilos of shabu worth more than P2.19 billion at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) the following month (Pinoy Expose, October 7, 2023).
DCI Uy said five persons arrested and charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with the latest drug seizure are, Oscar Campo Berba, identified owner of Redshinting Consumer Goods Trading; Customs brokers Kevin Lee Manuel Arrio and Richard Perlado Aguantar, and Karen Villaflor Sacro and Rey Baysa Gujilde, chairman and president of Ark Global Movers, respectively.
“Seeing this as our first major drug haul of the year, I would like to commend our officers as well as our partner law enforcement agencies – the NBI, PDEA, and DOJ – for their timely actions that led to this successful operation.
“Drug traffickers go to great lengths to circumvent our laws, deceive authorities, and harm our communities. But our officers go to even greater lengths to protect our people from the harm and danger brought by illegal drugs,” Commissioner Rubio said in a statement.
DCI Uy said follow up operations are ongoing but assured that all the consignees, senders, and recipients of the shipment will also face charges under customs law for violating Section 118 (prohibited importation and exportation) and Section 1400 (misdeclaration) in the goods declaration in relation to Section 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).