BOC seizes semi-sub, vehicles

MANILA, Philippines - A P5-million semi-submarine and P19 million worth of various goods have been seized at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

Deputy Commissioner Horacio Suansing Jr. yesterday said the knocked-down semi-submarine was misdeclared as an outboard motor compressor parts and accessories.

It reportedly came from South Korea.

Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon said 14 container vans filled with P2.4 million worth of scrap plastic were seized after arriving from Vietnam and Hong Kong last April.

It was consigned to Urrutia Trading Group of Companies, he added. 

Biazon said the cargo was seized for violating the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) and a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) order in relation to Republic Act 6969, the Toxic Substances and Hazardous Nuclear Wastes Act of 1990.

“Securing our borders from the entry of illegally imported hazardous materials to ensure the safety of the Filipinos from contaminated and hazardous materials is a concern that is of utmost importance for the Bureau of Customs,” he said. â€œWe will never allow a single shipment of these kinds of cargoes to get through customs gates.”

Custom authorities also seized four units of 40-foot container vans of used vehicles allegedly illegally imported from South Korea.

The shipment, valued at P4.2 million, was in violation of the TCCP, RA 8506 and Executive Order 156 banning the importation of right-hand drive cars and   of used vehicles.  

Other seizures were two units of container vans of used tires worth P1.06 million and one used Ducati motorcycle worth P386,000.

One container van of table and kitchenware worth P2.5 million and another containing body lotion worth P3.5 million were also seized.

Meanwhile, in Zamboanga City, police seized 230 sacks of smuggled rice on Thursday.

Zamboanga City police station 6 commander Senior Inspector Elmer Acuña said the  operation was made following an intelligence tip-off that sacks of imported rice would be unloaded in a mini-wharf in the coastal village of Arena Blanco.

Police team under Inspector Daniel Lozada swooped down at the wharf and stopped a truck loaded with 230 sacks of rice about 3 a.m. Thursday, he added.

Acuña said the smuggled sacks of rice were unloaded from M/V Rawda, which had come from Jolo, Sulu.

The seized smuggled rice was estimated to have a market value of more than P200,000.

Acuña said the rice was immediately turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.

The truck was impounded at the community police action center, he added.

Zamboanga City Mayor Isabel Climaco-Salazar has urged the Customs district office in the city to intensify the campaign against the smuggling of rice.