409 used vehicles on hold at Subic

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines — Agents of the joint Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group-Task Force Subic (PASG-TFS) seized yesterday more than 400 secondhand vehicles that were about to be brought out of this port.

PASG-TFS sources requesting anonymity said the vehicles were about to be loaded aboard M/V Han Lord but the cargo was held by the authorities because the shipment had no permits from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

The cargo’s supposed consignee, identified as Starwin Trading Co. in Hong Kong had denied knowledge of the shipment when contacted by Subic authorities, the PASG-TFS source said.

Based on individual export declarations filed by the shippers, a total of 409 vehicles with declared worth totaling $110,250 composed the seized shipment.

These included 221 vehicles from the Subic Shonan Int’l Corp.; 59 vehicles from DCB Trading Inc.; 15 from S.A.H. Platinum Int’l Inc.; nine from Phil-Pan Ventures, Inc.; eight vehicles each from Avira Export and Import Corp. and Lucky Dale Subic Int’l; and four from Northeast Freight Forwarders Inc.

PASG-TFS sources said a certain Andy Nucu and Pete Grue facilitated the processing of the documents at a cost of P90,000 per unit.

The source said that there was an intelligence report that because the sale of used vehicles has been banned in Subic, secondhand vehicles were to be brought to Port Irene in Cagayan.

Likewise, documents gathered by Subic authorities indicated that 409 vehicles were involved, or 84 vehicles more than the total number declared by the group of shippers.

Meanwhile, the shippers said in a letter to PASG-TFS that they were surprised with the order to stop the loading of the “exportation of 325 units of used motor vehicles.”

“We are absolutely confounded by this development since the exportation is covered by valid export permits endorsed by both the Bureau of Customs and the SBMA,” the shippers said in their letter dated Feb. 14, 2009.

The letter was signed by representatives of Subic Shonan Int’l Corp., DCB Trading Inc., Aviva Import & Export Corp., Phil-Pan Ventures Inc., Lucy Dale Subic Int’l Inc., and SAH Platinum Int’l Trading Inc.