The Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently confiscated P500,000 worth of laboratory equipment they believe may be used to set up a methamphetamine hydrochloride laboratory in the country.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the shipment was misdeclared as food processing equipment.
The container van, which entered the country through the Port of Manila, contained tooters, weighing scales, test tubes and herbal medicines from China, among others.
The shipment – consigned to Nissan Seiko Corp., a firm based in Canumay, Valenzuela City – arrived at the South Harbor from Japan last week on board the ship Uni-Assure.
Customs inspectors also noticed that the shipment arrived from Yao City in Osaka, Japan but its import manifest indicates the cargo came from China.
Morales has instructed BOC-Enforcement and Security Services director Nicasio Radovan to investigate the consignee and determine the true nature of its business. – Evelyn Macairan