Over 300 tons of smuggled vegetables seized in Navotas raid

Authorities have seized over 300 tons of smuggled vegetables during a raid at an illegal warehouse in Navotas City, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a statement on Friday evening.

A composite team from the DA Inspectorate and Enforcement Office, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and other law enforcement units raided two cold storage facilites on Thursday evening, leading to the discovery of smuggled onions, carrots, and other vegetables.

One of the cold storage facilities contained 132.75 tons of white onions, valued at P21.2 million. The other facility, meanwhile, had 89.89 tons of imported carrots, worth some P13.48 million.

The DA noted that Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel has ordered the Bureau of Plant Industry to suspend all issuances of import permits of these vegetables "[i]n response to the abundant harvest of onions and carrots."

The raid also yielded 360 kilos of tomatoes; 10 kilos of enoki mushrooms; and 92.25 tons of imported white onions loaded into a 40-foot container van.

"We cannot allow illegal trade practices such as this to continue hurting the livelihood of our farmers. The order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is clear: Go after these smugglers without let up," Tiu Laurel said.

The Agriculture chief called on the public to report to the DA any information on smuggling of agricultural products into the country. — VDV, GMA Integrated News