THE Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Inspectorate and Enforcement Office (IEO), along with the Bureau of Customs, and other law enforcement units, has confiscated over 300 tons of smuggled vegetables, including onions and carrots during a raid on an illegal storage facility in Navotas City Thursday night.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel underscored the importance of strictly enforcing the law against smuggling and unfair trade practices.
“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,” he said.
The raid uncovered 360 kilos of tomatoes, 10 kilos of enoki mushrooms, and a 40-footer container van loaded with 92.25 tons of imported white onions.
Initial reports from the raiding team revealed that one of the two cold storage facilities contained 132.75 tons of white onions, valued at P21.2 million. Another storage yielded 89.89 tons of imported carrots worth approximately P13.48 million.
