Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, with Intelligence Group Deputy Commissioner Juvymax Uy and Manila International Container Port (MICP) District Collector Arnoldo Famor, led the physical examination of five shipments containing P90-million worth of smuggled sugar and cigarettes on Friday, February 17, at MICP.
FIVE container vans inspected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) yielded P90 million worth of smuggled sugar and cigarettes at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
Reports said Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio led the physical examination of five shipments conducted on Feb. 17.
The BOC said the containers, which arrived between Jan. 5, 2023, and Feb. 12, 2023, contained an estimated PHP90,442,850 worth of smuggled items.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-MICP recommended the issuance of alert orders (AOs) after receiving derogatory information about the shipments — three of which were from Hong Kong, while two were from China.
Also present during the inspection were BOC Intelligence Group Deputy Commissioner Juvymax Uy and Manila International Container Port District Collector Arnoldo Famor.
According to Uy, the agency had been “actively monitoring” information about shipments that possibly contain smuggled goods in an intensified effort to curb the entry of contraband and illegal products into the country.
“We cannot stress it enough: it is unlawful to bring products into the Philippines without the proper permits. By now, these unscrupulous groups should understand the severity of our non-stop campaign against their illegal activities,” he said.
Likewise, the case records will be immediately referred to the Bureau’s Action Team Against Smugglers for case build-up and the filing of corresponding criminal cases against those responsible for the illegal importation of agricultural and tobacco products for violation of Section 1401 (Unlawful Importation) of the CMTA, and the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.
