Customs seizes P15M worth of smuggled sugar, exposes new modus

The Bureau of Customs seized on Thursday 5,000 sacks of sugar valued at P15 million that were being smuggled into the country.

The shipment belonging to Don Trading was put on hold by the Bureau after the Customs chief received information that some containers have misdeclared sugar, the bureau said.

Declared as refractory mortar, Don Trading attempted to smuggle 5,000 sacks of sugar into the country, the bureau said.

“Contrary to what was reported to me that the content was in order, we found 10 container vans that were positive for violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act,” BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña told reporters during an inspection of 28 that were flagged at Manila International Container Port.

Among the shipments alerted, some 12 consignees were involved so far, but only those that belong to Don Trading were found to contain misdeclared items. Customs authorities are still doing a re-examination and an inventory of the remaining shipments.

Refractory mortar, similar to cement, is used for building brick or stone fireplaces, or other installations that are subjected to intense heat. It weighs and looks like sugar, according to MICP authorities.

MICP records showed that the sugar shipment came from Thailand and arrived on July 13.
“The signing broker was Ameloden Buruan Riga of Quiapo, Manila and the company, Don Trading, was owned by a certain Dennis Orlanda Narra of Unit 411 4F La Maja Building, 459 Legaspi St., Intramuros, Manila,” the BOC said.

A warrant of seizure and detention will be issued by the Office of the District Collector of MICP after 100 percent of the shipment has been examined by Customs authorities.

The shipment violated Section 1400 (Misdeclaration, Misclassification, Undervaluation in Goods Declaration) in relation to Section 1113 (Property Subject to Seizure and Forfeiture) of the CMTA, the bureau said.

The shipment owner and Customs broker will also face criminal charges in violation of Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016. Section 3 of RA 10845 considers sugar smuggling in excess of P1 million as economic sabotage.

“I believe this importer is part of a cartel who hold the smuggled sugar and will only release the commodity once the market prices are high. One of the reasons why the prices of the basic commodities are high is because the prices are manipulated,” Lapeña said.

‘Heads will roll’

Lapeña also ordered a full-blown investigation of BOC personnel who were supposedly in cahoots with the importers and Customs broker. “Heads will roll,” he said.

According to the BOC chief, the BOC personnel submitted recommendation for his office to lift an alert order on the shipments that included the misdeclared sugar.

This is a new modus in one of the biggest ports in the country—Manila International Container Port—that was supposedly exposed when the shipments on alert were re-examined, the bureau said.

“I ordered the alert order on these container vans, however, the Customs personnel in-charge of the examination submitted a report different from what was found during our re-examination today,” Lapeña noted.

“They also submitted a recommendation of lifting the order, justifying that everything is in order despite the irregularity,” he said.

The discovery of this modus is a significant development in the ongoing reforms at the BOC, Lapeña said. —VDS, GMA News