BOC seized P9.8M illegally imported onions

Focusing on its all-out war against smuggling, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized seven forty-footer container vans ferrying illegally imported onions worth P9.8M.

In today’s media presentation of the seized smuggled onions which were misdeclared as housewares, school supplies and house decors, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said, the seven forty-footer container vans of smuggled onions from China, which arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in February and March this year, were consigned to four non-existent consignees namely, One Paul Trading, Silver Stripes Trading, Clerical Enterprises, and JZEVEN66 Trading.

“Our efforts to identify and prosecute all those involved in this smuggling attempt will not end at the non-existent addresses of these fake consignees. We will undertake a deep and sustained probe on this smuggling attempt, if only to prosecute all the people involved in it,” Biazon said.

“The days of smugglers at the BOC are numbered, especially those involved in the illegal importation of agricultural and food products. With the 100 percent examination of all food importations now imposed by the Bureau, coupled with the clean-up of the BOC’s list of accredited importers to ferret out the fictitious ones, smugglers would soon realize that the BOC is not the place for them to be,” the Commissioner said.

Intelligence Group Deputy Commissioner Danilo Lim expressed his satisfaction over the Manila International Container Port (MICP)-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service’s (CIIS) accomplishment when the MICP-CIIS operatives foiled the illegal onion shipment.

 “The structural reform in the Bureau when Interim iCARE (Customs Accreditations Regristration Unit) was placed under IG (Intelligence Group) played a key role to this seizure. After having sanitized the ICARE list of BOC accredited importers to identify the fictitious ones, our CIIS operatives at the MICP were immediately able to profile the suspicious onion shipment,” Lim stressed.

MICP-CIIS Officer-In-Charge Bienvenido Rubio led the thorough examination of the illegal onion shipment together with CIIS Director Fernandino Tuason.