CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Fresh batch of onions imported from China was intercepted by the Bureau of Customs in Northern Mindanao, an official said.
The shipment, which was declared as “frozen malt,” arrived at the Mindanao Container Terminal subport in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental on Oct. 5 and was held by Customs on Oct. 15, said Oliver Valiente, chief of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), the intelligence arm of the BOC.
BOC-10 said the shipment was consigned to South Road Consumer Goods Trading.
The shipment was alerted by the CIIS field station “after receiving derogatory information about the shipment which may contain smuggled goods.”
The CIIS together with the Enforcement and Security Services, led by SP/Capt. Abdila Maulana Jr., customs examiner, and Chamber of Customs Broker Inc. (CCBI) representative, fully inspected the shipment at the Designated Examination Area (DEA) and was found out to contain onions.
Valiente said the seized goods will eventually be destroyed after undergoing due process.
He said the consignee will be invited to a hearing and failure to attend the invitation will mean filing of appropriate charges against them.
A warrant of seizure and detention was already recommended for issuance against the smuggled shipment, he said.
For his part, John Simon, MCT sub-port collector, said one of his instructions to BOC-10 personnel under his jurisdiction is not to sleep on their job and see to it only legal good can pass through.
“We have been very concerned about these illegal cargoes that enter the MCT and other ports in the region. That’s why we have been monitoring all incoming shipments,” the collector said.
