Customs reshuffles 76 intel officers

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has reshuffled 76 intelligence officers to intensify its efforts to curb smuggling.

The bureau is realigning more of its personnel to the out ports and private ports to serve as “eyes” on attempts of smugglers to use the distant ports as gateways for contraband goods, said BOC Intelligence Group head executive assistant Ronald Jess Alcudia.

The 76 reshuffled intelligence officers will begin their new assignments on Monday.

The BOC’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service said that this is just the first wave of the reshuffle and that a total of 142 employees will be affected by the personnel movement.

Alcudia said that while the BOC would maintain its presence at the three big ports, BOC Deputy Commissioner Jesse Dellosa noticed that “there are collection districts that do not have enough intelligence officers.”

While the volume of shipments in the out ports are lower compared to the main ports, the BOC might be caught off guard if it would not intensify its vigilance in these areas, Alcudia explained.

“Our intention is to put eyes in areas where we are blind. The intention is to spread resources in areas where we do not deploy,” he added.

Dellosa has been planning the reshuffle since he joined the BOC in September 2013. He studied the situation in the ports and the allocation of resources.

Dellosa believes that several intelligence officers have been staying in their current ports for far too long and he wants them to be familiar with different operating environments such as ports with big traffic, airports and ports that entertain different commodities such as bulk and containerized.

Since stepping up intelligence activities in September 2013, the BOC has issued over 1,000 alert orders on various types of shipments nationwide. About 80 percent of these were misdeclared, had discrepancies in weight or volume or were found to be liable for additional duties and taxes.

These efforts, including closer coordination with other government agencies, have also resulted in higher amounts of seizures of prohibited and restricted imports, with over P5.7 billion in counterfeit goods seized from January to March 2014.