THE attempt by a trading company to fool the Bureau of Customs (BOC) by changing its name into another consignee turned into an exercise in futility after its attempt to release simultaneously its smuggled shipments of red onions and other agricultural products were busted at the Port of Cagayan de Oro and the Port of Subic today, November 18, 2021.
According to the initial spot report submitted to Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero by deputy commissioner for intelligence (DCI), Rainier Ramiro, 24×40 containers already loaded on delivery trucks and declared as “mantou” (Chinese steamed buns) were flagged down while exiting the compound of the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, for physical inspection.
The report added that the initial inspection of 5 containers on November 18, 2021, disclosed their actual contents as red onion valued at P14 million. Red onions are highly-regulated to protect domestic producers.
Ramiro said instruction has already been given to Port of Cagayan de Oro district collector, Elvira Cruz, to place the entire shipment consigned to ‘EMV Consumer Goods Trading’ on hold pending the inspection of the remaining containers.
He also placed the value of the entire shipment at P67 million.
The misdeclared shipment from China arrived at the MCT last November 13 on board the ‘AS PIA’ and declared as mantou.
Unknown to the consignee, however, the BOC is already one-step ahead as the IG already has the information regarding the smuggling attempt and has also already alerted the CDO and Subic ports to be on the lookout for the filing of import entries by EMV Consumer Goods Trading starting on November 15, 2021.
Reliable information that reached Ramiro disclosed that the consignee would change its name to EMV or JKJ Consumer Goods Trading; previously, the company was using the names ‘Multisubsonic,’ Stravada’ ‘JMJ’ and ‘Queenstar.’
The information also disclosed that the consignee would misdeclared its shipments as “mantou,” “milk tea” and “tapioca” but would actually contain, frozen fish, red onions and frozen meat.
At the Port of Subic, district collector Maritess Martin confirmed that inspection of another shipment consigned to EMV Consumers consisting of 22×40 containers would proceed the next day, November 19, 2021, after their initial inspection of 12 containers today showed them to contain carrots, broccoli sweet oats, mushrooms and red onions.
Martin added that as further precautionary measure, she also instructed the other exit gates at the Port of Subic to be on the lookout for containers consigned to EMV Consumers, as soon as she received the intelligence report from the IG.
Martin also placed the value of the whole shipment at P66 million, putting the total number of the confiscated agricultural products belonging to a single consignee at P133 million.
Ramiro added Guerrero has ordered a “deeper profiling” of those behind the foiled smuggling attempt and the filing of appropriate charges against them.