Agency heads organizing joint offensive vs. smugglers
A multi-agency effort to stamp out agricultural smuggling is taking shape after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he considers its recent surge a serious national security threat, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said over the weekend.
“The President has ordered us to go after consignees and all those involved in smuggling agricultural goods. By year-end, we expect to see many of them in handcuffs, facing charges,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said.
In 2024, the DA managed to seize over P3 billion worth of contraband agricultural products in 2024, exceeding the 2023 total by P1 billion.
Of that amount, approximately P1.9 billion worth of smuggled rice was confiscated in a single operation.
The Bureau of Customs has reported a significant increase in the value of smuggled goods seized during the first three months of the year, totaling P25.581 billion.
From January to March 29, the bureau’s Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) conducted 243 successful operations, leading to a 39.59% spike in the value of confiscated contraband.
It launched at least 71 operations targeting illegal shipments of rice, onions, frozen meat, and other key food items, many of which were found to be expired.
The DA chief disclosed that he has met separately with Bureau of Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, National Security adviser Eduardo Año, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre, and officials from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to coordinate efforts against syndicates smuggling food.
He warned that customs brokers would also be held accountable under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law, the Food Safety Act, and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Tiu Laurel pointed out that the President is particularly alarmed by the impact of smuggling on local producers and legitimate businesses.
“This not only harms our economy—it also fosters corruption across multiple layers of government,” he added.
Tiu Laurel stressed that uninspected agricultural imports pose serious biosecurity risks to the country’s plant and livestock industries.
He added shipments from the Port of Xiamen in China are now under tighter scrutiny, as it has been identified as a major source of smuggled agricultural goods.
The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in September 2024 declares large-scale smuggling, hoarding, profiteering and cartel-like manipulation of prices as economic sabotage — a non-bailable offense punishable by life imprisonment and fines equivalent to five times the value of the goods involved.
Under the law, informants may also receive rewards of up to P20 million, a measure meant to encourage whistleblowing within logistics chains and port authorities.
