23 tons of ‘hot meat’ from China seized

A total of 23.3 metric tons of suspected "hot meat" from China was brought yesterday to the Navotas cold storage pending examination by the authorities on suspicion that the imported products were contaminated with the bird flu virus.

Superintendent Sotero Ramos Jr., newly assigned chief of the National Capital Region Police Office-Regional Intelligence Special Operations Office (NCRPO-RISOO), said the hot meat, worth some P5 million, was seized from a storage facility on Sto. Domingo Avenue, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City during a series of operations last Thursday and Friday by RISOO agents and a team from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

The operations were conducted based on the information provided by the staff of the TV program Kamao aired on NBN-Channel 4 to the office of NCRPO chief Director Vidal Querol.

The confiscated products were made up of assorted meats, including Peking duck, black chicken, young pigeons, refined mutton, beef tendons, frozen pork and suckling pigs.

Apart from being undocumented, the imported meat products are also suspected to be contaminated with the bird flu virus and foot and mouth disease (FMD).

The seized products were brought to the BIFEL Cold Storage 2 in North Bay Boulevard corner Lapu-Lapu Avenue in Navotas.

"The products are now stored in Navotas cold storage for further investigation by authorities," Ramos told The STAR.

Representatives from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), headed by Senior Fishing Regulation Officer Muriel Camo and Foreign and Permitting Section chief Edwin Alesna, were also present during the operations, Ramos said.

Authorities are now coordinating with the owner of facility where the meats were seized.