CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY —Imported fireworks worth an estimated P15 million confiscated by the Bureau of Customs at a local port had been turned over to the police regional office recently, a Customs official said Friday.
According to Alvin Enciso, chief of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service in region 10, the boxes of pyrotechnics were placed inside four 40-foot container vans and arrived at the Mindanao Container Terminal sub-port in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental from China last year, with one of containers’ arrival in said port dating back to 2015.
Enciso identified the consignees of the items as Pro V Marketing and Spherebox Marketing and the shippers as Quingtian Zhangchao Import & Export Co. Ltd., Yiwu Suge Import & Export Co. Ltd., and Guangzhou Kind Sam Import & Export Co. Ltd.
He said the shipment had not been properly declared and was reported by the shippers as drinking glasses, cups, reams of bond paper, and sanitary napkins.
When inspected, Enciso said, Customs officials found out the cargo had been misdeclared and turned out to be actually fireworks.
He said the inspection took place after an alert order was issued by Teddy Raval, BoC’s Intelligence Groups deputy commissioner, and CIIS director Neil Estrella, prompting the Customs to take action.
“[Raval and Estrella] have a directive to the CIIS-CDO to strictly monitor and stop smuggling, that’s why we were able to confiscate this contraband. We then turned the seized items to the [PNP] for proper disposal so these won’t go back to the market,” Enciso said.
Enciso said the Philippine National Police in region 10 destroyed the seized fireworks.
The CIIS, he added, is on the lookout for shipment which are misdeclared or are lacking in pertinent permits from the Customs and other government agencies, specifically at the Mindanao Container Terminal.
The importers have yet to issue a statement regarding the seiZed cargo.