AROUND 136,000 liters of believed to be smuggled diesel fuel were seized in five trucks and a tanker in Mariveles town on Saturday evening by the National Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Customs.
Operatives of the NBI-Anti Organized and Transnational Crimes Division and the BOC saw 16 fuel trucks at the private establishment they raided.
Authorities confiscated five of the trucks that were already loaded with the allegedly smuggled fuel.
They also seized M/T Lorna-2, which was carrying from 80,000 to 100,000 liters fuel, said BOC Special Agent 1 Lesster Kibanoff.
The seized fuel has an estimated value of P147.48 million.
A spectrometer test found that the fuel M/T Lorna-2 is carrying does not have the chemical markers present in legally imported fuel.
“Gabi na namin pinasok ito, at yung pagpasok natin, nagkaroon ng habulan… ‘Yung dalawang barko, naabutan namin nandito nagdi-diskarga at nakapila ang mga trak. Na-confirm natin na ‘yung 16 na trak dito, 5 dito ay nakargahan na,” said lawyer Mark Santiago, executive officer at NBI-AOTCD, as reported by ABS-CBN News.
“Mabilis sila, operations nila. Kapag nag-operate sila, sarado lahat ng ilaw nila… Iimbestigahan natin at kakasuhan ang mga dapat kasuhan. May mga truck driver na iniwan na ‘yung truck nila,” Santiago also said.
The establishment that was raided was operating as a repair site for ships and boats, based on its registration in Barangay Alas-Asin, he said.
“Nakita natin na may illegal activities. Iniimbestigahan natin ang may-ari ng property,” the official said.
The customs bureau in October seized 40,000 liters of allegedly smuggled fuel in the Port of Limay, also in Bataan
