n By Joel E. Zurbano and Maricel V. Cruz
Customs operatives have confiscated smuggled onions, sugar and cigarettes worth more than P104 million at the Manila North Harbor.
Meanwhile, Batangas Rep. Ralph Rector urged the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to maximize the use of cargo modern tracking technology to monitor the movements of imported goods.
Alvin Enciso, head of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service – Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP), said they conducted the raid after his office received information about the shipments from China, Hong Kong, and India.
He said the eight shipments of smuggled goods arrived between Dec. 29, 2022 and Feb. 10, 2023.
“The shipments—five of which came from China, two from Hong Kong, and one from India—contained misdeclared and undeclared red and white onions, sugar, and cigarettes,” Enciso said.
Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Juvymax Uy lauded the recent series of successful anti-smuggling operations resulting in the seizure of several millions of pesos worth of agricultural products.
“Our Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio had his hands full with the transition, but that didn’t stop him from leading the agency in our fight against smuggling,” he said.
In addition, Uy gave credit to the CIIS-MICP for staying alert against the illegal entry of agricultural products into the country.
“Our intel officers and agents are highly skilled and equipped at detecting the concealment methods for these smuggling activities,” he noted.
The three consignees of the confiscated shipments would be asked to present the proper permits for the importation, the absence of which would lead to the filing of smuggling charges against them.
“If the Bureau of Customs can find onions in an air passenger’s bag, then there is no reason why it can’t detect smuggled sugar-carrying ships as big as malls,” Recto said in a statement.
But if it is still having a hard time curbing smuggling, the BOC should expand and maximize the use of tracking technology to follow monitored cargoes, he lamented.
“In this age of ‘AirTag’, it will be hard for cargoes to vanish in thin air,” he said, referring to the Apple-made tracking device that can locate shipments anywhere in the world.
“Yung pitaka nga, nahahanap ng AirTag, a shipping container as big as a house pa kaya?” he said.
At present, the Customs bureau employs an Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo or e-TRACC System in which a container is armed with a GPS tracker to monitor its movement from ship discharge to its final destination.
The scheme prevents the container’s diversion during transit to other Customs territories and facilities.
“Kasi kung, halimbawa, ang deklarasyon ay gagamitin lang ang laman nito sa loob ng isang free port, kaya walang buwis, hindi pwedeng ilabas ‘yan. Otherwise, smuggling na,” Recto said.
He said Customs should study what tracking technologies can be used to monitor containers laden with agriculture produce from “port of origin to eventual destination here.”
The idea is to make technology ahead of the smuggling curve, he said.
Philippine imports of agricultural and petroleum products from 2016 to 2021 have been underreported by P280 billion.
“The benefit of an expanded e-TRACC clearly outweighs the cost of doing it,” he said.