SUBIC BAY FREEPORT - The Taiwanese fishing boat used in smuggling some P4.62-billion worth of shabu into Subic had passed the inspection of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) here, documents secured by The STAR show.
This belies earlier reports from Subic Customs that the F/B Shun Fa Xing, from where the boxes containing shabu were seen offloaded, “did not have a notice of arrival” and that the Customs boarding team “failed to inspect the boat.”
According to the “Record of Vessel Boarded,” a BOC form that was filled up and signed by Customs personnel who inspect incoming vessels, the Taiwanese vessel arrived here on May 24 at 8 a.m., with one Jou Jonq Rong as captain.
The boarding record was signed by Romulo Labrusca, from the office of Subic port collector Marietta Zamoranos.
Earlier, a report by Zamoranos claimed that the boat arrived on May 25 at about 8 a.m., “but did not have a notice of arrival.”
The same report alleged that the Customs Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) boarding team “failed to inspect the boat.”
Meanwhile, a former Army general said high-grade shabu from North Korea has started to flood the Philippines, reducing street prices of the drug by about 50 percent.
Dionisio Santiago, a retired general, said there was strong suspicion a huge shipment of shabu seized at Subic came from clandestine drugs laboratories in North Korea. – Bebot Sison Jr.