Subic, MICP, seize P79 million smuggled goods in 2 days

No truth BOC ‘delaying’ release of anti-COVID vaccines, meds

On May 31, 2021

MICP-CIIS chief, Alvin Enciso, inspects one of the four luxury vehicles, valued at over P10 million that they apprehended, at the port last May 26, 2021, a Porsche Boxter. Enciso said they have come up with ‘Coplan Tsekot’ aimed at preventing the MICP from being used as a gateway to smuggle vehicles into the country (photo: BOC-PIAD).

THE anti-smuggling campaign of the Bureau of Customs under Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero remains unrelenting with the Port of Subic (PoS) and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) leading the charge, apprehending more than P79 million smuggled goods in just 4 days.

Port of Subic district collector, Atty. Maritess Martin, in a report to Guerrero, said she immediately ordered the seizure of two 40-footer van purportedly containing ‘footwears’ and ‘cartons film’ last May 28, 2021, after the cargoes turned out to be fake cigarette brands worth more than P66 million.

Martin said the shipments arrived at the PoS last May 19, 2021 consigned respectively to RNRS Trading and, Heybronze Non-Specialized Wholesale Trading.

Due diligence inspection. Officers of the Port of Subic (PoS) guides a K-9 dog over a shipment of smuggled cigarettes to make sure that illegal drugs are not among the items they confiscated last May 28, 2021. The use of K-9 dogs trained to detect illegal drugs has become part of the operational procedure of the Bureau of Customs under Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero. PoS district collector, Atty. Maritess Martin said they confiscated smuggled cigarettes worth more than P66 million misdeclared as ‘footwear’ (photo credit: BOC-PIAD).

Unknown to the consignees, however, the PoS already had information that the shipments actually consisted of cigarettes.

On actual physical inspection last May 28, in the presence of representatives from local cigarette manufacturers, Martin said they uncovered assorted brands of cigarettes, namely: Marvels Menthol, Marvels Filter, Two Moon Filter, Two Moon Menthol, Fort Menthol 100’s, Mighty Menthol, Champion and Jackpot.

“Our continued efforts to curb smuggling and enhanced border security together with our partner agencies are definitely working,” Martin said, adding that appropriate charges for violation of RA 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act), and other government regulations pertaining to the smuggling of tobacco products are being prepared against the smuggling suspects.

Martin is among the top awardees among customs officials for her sterling management of the PoS during the bureau’s 119^TH anniversary last February.

The PoS has been consistent among the bureau’s 17 collection districts in surpassing its monthly assigned targets, to the point that last year, the PoS had already surpassed its 2020 assigned target by the month of November.

At the MICP, port intelligence chief, Alvin Enciso, announced the apprehension of a shipment of red onions worth P3 million and 4 luxury vehicles worth more than P10 million, together with 40 bales of used clothing (“ukay-ukay”) two days earlier.

Martin is among the top awardees among customs officials for her sterling management of the PoS during the bureau’s 119^TH anniversary last February.

In a report, Enciso identified the onion consignee as ‘Potanion Trading’ while the consignee of the luxury vehicles as, ‘JLFDM Consumer Goods Trading.’

Enciso said Potanion claimed its shipment as ‘yellow onions’ from China but later on found to contain 60 percent red onions.

In a separate inspection, Enciso said their ‘Coplan Tsekot,’ bagged its first apprehension after they found one unit of Porsche Boxter Sports Car, 1 Unit Mercedes Benz SLK Sports Car and 2 Toyota MR-S Sports Cars, along with 40 bales of used clothing from Japan declared as ‘auto spareparts.’

Enciso said ‘Oplan Tsekot’ is specifically designed to prevent the MICP as an entry point of vehicles being smuggled into the country.

He added that the all the shipments have already been filed and appropriate charges are already being prepared against the suspects.

‘No delay in release of vaccines, medicines’

Meanwhile, Port of NAIA district collector Carmelita Talusan, rejected reports that the port is ‘delaying’ the release of anti-COVID-19 vaccines and other medicines such as ‘Remdesivir.’

Customs and Health officials at the NAIA supervising a shipment of Remdesivir, purportedly a cure for severe cases of COVID-19.

In a statement also on May 26, Talusan branded as “false news” the claim that the release of Remdesivir is being delayed.

“The bureau, through the Port of NAIA, guarantees that the processing and release of legally imported COVID-19 related shipments are being facilitated expeditiously,” Talusan said.

“The Port of NAIA strictly implements and observes a minimum of one day clearance lead time for the processing and release of Remdesivir and other COVID-19 shipments with complete importation requirements, including License to Operate (LTO), Certificate of Product Registration (CPR), Special Use Authorization (SUA) and/or Compassion Use Authorization (CUA) from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA),” the official further explained.

Citing official data, Talusan said that thus far, 42 shipments of Remdesivir consisting of 180,000 vials, have already been processed and released in the port since March 2020.

“The BOC also continuously reports all facilitated PPE and vaccine shipments in all its information dissemination platforms, which to date, already accounted at 15,879 shipments of PPEs and 14 shipments of COVID-19 consisting of more than 8 million vials/doses,” Talusan said.

“The country’s premier customs airport will remain committed to Comm. Guerrero’s trade facilitation and border control initiatives to ensure that unnecessary delays are prevented and that no unsafe, prohibited, and unregistered goods will pass through the country’s border,” the official added.