Govt. seizes P24.3 billion smuggled goods in 2022

THE government, thru the Bureau of Customs (BOC), confiscated assorted smuggled goods last year totaling some P24.3 billion, of which, nearly half or P11.95 billion, consisted of illegal drugs.

Retired Philippine Army M/General Juvymax Uy, the bureau’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence (DCI) and Atty. Teddy Raval, Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement (DCE), in a report to Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, said that in 2022, the BOC effected 709 seizures of smuggled goods broken down into 3 major categories:

Illegal drugs, P11.95 billion; counterfeit goods, P7.69 billion; and, agricultural products, P1.87 billion.

The officials noted that in line with the directive of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Ruiz, to protect the country’s farmers, the BOC has already classified all importations of agricultural products as “high-risk commodities,” except those falling under the ‘SGL’ (Super Green Lane) that resulted to 137 incidents of seizure.

In addition, 200 Letters of Authority (LOA) signed by Ruiz were also implemented last year of which 109 yielded positive results.

Meanwhile, of the 193 ‘AOs’ (alert orders) issued by the bureau’s 17 collection districts, 120 AOs yielded ‘positive’ for violating pertinent customs laws, rules, and regulations.

Thru the ‘Risk Management Office’ (RMO) under the IG, some 89 percent resulted to the issuance of a ‘WSD’ (Warrant of Seizure and Detention) after ‘non-intrusive’ (X-Ray) and actual physical inspection.

Uy said their “improved” ‘risk management system’ (RMS) has helped them in their intelligence and enforcement capabilities.

Under the RMS, the Offense Management System was implemented to enhance the BOC’s risk assessment and profiling to support risk management.

He added they also implemented a ‘compliance track record’ as a “feedback mechanism” that also assists in the bureau’s main mandate of trade facilitation by prioritizing the targeting of high-risk importers while facilitating release of low-risk shipments.

Thru the bureau’s Client Profile Registration System (CPRS), application for accreditation by importers and customs brokers is now automatically uploaded upon the approval of the Account Management Office (AMO), thus eliminating “human intervention” in the profiling of companies and individuals in the RMS.

On the other hand, the web portal of the ‘National Customs Intelligence System’ (NCIS), now serves as a secure data ‘warehouse’ of intelligence information from the intelligence and enforcement offices of the agency.

The system enables the generation of reports from these offices for a seamless, transparent, and comprehensive decision-making analysis resulting to a more responsive border control policy.

Compared to 2021, last year’s accomplishments against smuggling by the BOC was slightly lower where the IG’s reported total haul for 2021 reached more than P28 billion from 775 incidents of foiled smuggling attempts (see also Pinoy Exposé, January 12, 2022).

However, the increase in the value of seized drugs last year is also a reflection of Ruiz’s former job as a bemedaled regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) before he came to the BOC in 2017 as director of the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS/Customs Police), the operating arm of the EG.

In 2021, topping the list of the BOC’s confiscated smuggled goods were counterfeit products amounting to P21.651 billion while the amount of confiscated agricultural products reached P1.23 billion.