The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), in coordination with the Bureau of Customs (BOC), intercepted 25 metric tons of illegally imported red onions from China at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Misamis Oriental.
The shipment, which arrived on May 26, 2025, was consigned to Lantix Consumer Goods Trading, a Binondo-based company. It was declared to contain assorted frozen goods, including egg noodles, croissant dough, pizza dough, buns and spring rolls.
A June 11 inspection by the BPI-Plant Quarantine Service in Cagayan de Oro revealed it contained fresh red onions instead of the declared frozen goods. The estimated customs value of the smuggled onions is about P2 million.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said no sanitary and phytosanitary import permits were issued for red onion shipments from China.
He said the department would pursue legal action under the newly enacted Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, which imposes tougher penalties for agricultural smuggling, including steep fines and long prison terms
