CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Hundreds of plastic drums of imported hydrochloric acid, one of the components in making the illegal drug methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, were found without import permit by authorities at the Mindanao Container Terminal sub-port in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, the Bureau of Customs-Region 10 said Thursday.
The BOC-10 examiners reported that 320 drums from India containing the chemical entered the local port on Feb. 1. It was examined on Feb. 14 and witnessed by the broker’s representative, officers from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, BOC’s Enforcement Security Service, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operatives.
Customs officials said the shipment was a “restricted or regulated good without import permit or clearance.”
In her memorandum to MCT port collector Datu Samson Pacasum, Janefa Dianalan, BOC-10 assigned examiner, recommended a Warrant of Seizure and Detention against the shipment “in view of the failure of the consignee to secure and present the essential Import Permits/Licenses,” which violated provisions of Customs laws.
BOC-10 identified the consignee as Juchem Enterprises, based in Butuan City, which it said failed to secure and submit necessary import documents.
Alvin Enciso, intelligence officer II and officer-in-charge of the BOC-10 Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, said the initial examination on the shipment last Feb. 14 showed the discrepancy of the consignee’s failure to present the import permit.
“With the close coordination of the BOC’s CIIS and the Intelligence Group and PDEA, especially with the instruction from President Rodrigo Duterte to monitor incoming shipments in line with the anti-drugs campaign of the government, the shipment, consisting of four 20-footer containers, is found to be one of the essential chemicals being regulated by the PDEA,” Enciso said.
“It is considered a dangerous chemical if it goes to the wrong hands. It is one of the essential elements or chemicals used in making shabu,” he added.
Before the shipment arrived, Enciso said PDEA has tipped off the BOC about the hydrochloric acid from abroad, prompting Customs to tighten its watch on incoming goods.
He said the owner of Juchem Enterprises came to his office and claimed they didn’t know the shipped chemical is regulated.
Enciso said the shipment violated PDEA, Dangerous Drug Board, Food and Drugs Administration and Department of Environment and Natural Resources regulations, as well as Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which strictly disallows imported and regulated items without corresponding import permits.
The consignees, he added, told Customs the chemical would be supplied to a mining company, but PDEA and CIIS are still verifying where it will actually be used.
“We also intend to visit the company or companies where they claimed they are supplying the chemicals so we would know where exactly they are using the chemicals,” Enciso said.
“But, just the same, PDEA is preparing to file cases against this importer. Per instruction from Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and Deputy Commissioner Teddy Raval, and as communicated by the new director of CIIS, Neil Anthony Estrella, that the shipment be opened immediately,” he added.
If it will be used to manufacture shabu, Enciso said the chemical could produce hundreds of millions of pesos worth of the illegal drug.
“We found out that upon entry (of the shipment) there was none (import permit). So, we recommended for the issuance of Warrant of Seizure and Detention of the shipment. For now, they have to present all the necessary papers to the legal department. We have already endorsed it (shipment) for WSD,” said Nasrudin Guro, chief of the BOC-10 Assessment Division.