The Bureau of Customs – Port of Subic seized smuggled agricultural products with an estimated value of P66 million on Nov. 18.
The said port issued Pre-Lodgement Control Orders (PLCO) against the 9×40’ container shipment consigned to JKJ International Co. and 13×40’ container shipment consigned to EMV Consumer Goods Trading after District Collector Maritess T. Martin received information from the Intelligence Group (IG) that the upcoming shipments from the abovementioned consignees contain agricultural products.
Martin ordered the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) to immediately conduct profiling of shipments with similar declarations and suspected to contain misdeclared or undeclared agricultural products which resulted in the request for the issuance of PLCO against the subject shipments.
Intelligence report from IG also revealed that EMV Consumer Goods changed its name multiple times but was still detected due to the intense profiling of shipments.
The conduct of non-intrusive (X-Ray) and physical examination confirmed that the shipments contained assorted agricultural products such as carrots, sweet oats, broccoli, mushroom, and red onions.
Present during the examination are the Bureau of Customs officials: District Collector Maritess T. Martin, representatives from the CIIS and Enforcement and Security Service witnessed by the Economic Intelligence Team, Assistant Secretary Laciste of the Department of Agriculture, as well as representatives from National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Trade Industry, SBMA and K9 PDEA.
Warrants of Seizure and Detention shall be issued against the shipments for violation of DA Department Circular No. 04 series of 2016 and Section 1113 (f) of the Republic Act No. 10863 also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Martin said that the port will continue to stay alert against unscrupulous importers especially since the Holiday Season is fast approaching.