BOC eyes cold storage facilities for smuggled agri products

Large cold storage facilities in Metro Manila are now under the Bureau of Customs’ radar — part of efforts to monitor the illegal entry of perishable agriculture products in the country. This development came in the wake of raids staged by BOC agents on warehouses outside Customs zones, Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said Wednesday. The first was on July 6 in Navotas, which netted 4,000 bags of imported red onions worth P3.5 million. Another raid was staged on July 16, the Customs chief said without giving further details, other than explaining that warehouse employees failed to present legal papers proving that the onions legally entered the country. The raids were the first accomplishments of the new BOC project, Oplan Sagip-Agri. Alvarez said Oplan Sagip-Agri was the brainchild of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIIS) director Filomeno Vicencio Jr. and Intelligence Division chief Jose N. Yuchongco. “The project was meant to ensure that imported products that cleared customs under anomalous circumstances were recovered and the guilty parties are penalized," Alvarez said. As of this posting, Alvarez said four teams of BOC intelligence agents are monitoring locations in Metro Manila for imported agriculture products that slipped through Customs zones without proper documents that include official receipts of duties and taxes. Customs employees and other people involved in the smuggling of the onions are being investigated, Alvarez said. — VS, GMA News