MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Wednesday confiscated around PHP136.58 million worth of smuggled agricultural products and cigarettes at Subic Port in Zambales.
In an ambush interview, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the intensified collaboration led to the seizure of illegal agricultural products.
“It's a clear sign to the smugglers that the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Agriculture are on top of the situation, and we are scanning all the imports and reviewing all the performance of the importers even from their past trends,” he said.
Confiscated were five containers of 86 metric tons (MT) of fresh white onions and 58 MT of fresh carrots misdeclared as frozen fish egg balls from China; as well as two containers of smuggled cigarettes misdeclared as tissue from Taiwan.
Each of the three shipping containers of white onions is valued at over PHP4.3 million while the two containers of carrots amounted to over PHP4 million each, with a total amount pegged at more than PHP21.08 million for all five containers.
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