Smuggled liquor intercepted

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized millions worth of liquor concealed inside marble furniture that was intended for shipment to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Assistant Regional Director Oscar Embido, of the NBI-Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD), said yesterday they intercepted a container van filled with bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label hidden inside Grecian-type columns.

"We received an intelligence report that expensive liquor was being smuggled into Jeddah," Embido said.

The shipment was consigned to Mohammed Amir Bajrai Trading in Jeddah, where there is a prevailing liquor ban.

He said a bottle of Black Label, which costs P1,000 in the Philippines could fetch as much as P3,500 in Jeddah.

He explained that their operation was a product of a month-long surveillance.

The smuggling syndicate has been operating since last year and has made at least two export deliveries to their contact in Jeddah.

"We let the second shipment slip through so that we could find out their modus operandi and determine the route of the shipment. It was being exported through the Manila International Container Port," the NBI-AOCD chief added.

It turned out that the contraband items were purchased in Subic in Zambales and were repacked in Silang, Cavite.

At 11p.m. of June 29, the NBI intercepted a Cosco container van as it was passing Paco Park in Manila.

However, it was at around 2 p.m. yesterday when they opened the container van because they had to wait for the representative of the Customs brokerage firm and tools to open the van.

He said that there were about 10 six-foot Grecian-type columns, each containing some 150 bottles. As of press time, yesterday, they have only opened two columns.

"Right now, we are still conducting a follow-up investigation to determine the members of the syndicate. We are trying to build a solid case against the shipper and readying charges of violation of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines," he said. — Evelyn Macairan