DAVAO CITY — the Bureau of Customs Port of Cebu intercepted on Monday, August 10, 495 Bags of Myanmar white rice estimated to worth over half a million pesos in market value.
The shipment was intercepted after the Port’s Enforcement and Security Service headed by District, after the Commander SPAS Jerry M. Arizabal, received confidential information that a shipment which arrived at the Port of Cebu from Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 23 July 2020 was loaded with imported rice.
The Inward Foreign Manifest declared the shipment to contain personal effects of the consignee, a certain Theresa Lawas who is allegedly a resident of Barangay Pansoy, Municipality of Sogod, Cebu.
When BOC personnel ESS checked with Barangay Pansoy, they learned that Laws are not a resident in said place which prompted the agency to issue a Pre-Lodgement Control Order against the shipment on 29 July 2020.
The physical examination yielded 495 bags of Myanmar White Rice, and no personal effects as stated in the manifest. The bags of rice were also not covered by any Sanitary and Phytosanitary Clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry.
Acting District Collector Mendoza issued a Warrant of Seizure and Detention against the shipment for violation of Section 1113(f) and (l) par. 5 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). Last month, the Port seized various smuggled goods worth over Php14 Million. -Newsline.ph
