A total of P19 million-worth of sugar shipment was seized at the Manila International Container Port on January 11, 2023, halting the illegal operation of smugglers plying in one of the entry points of international cargoes in the National Capital Region.
The shipment, which came in five-container cargo, was placed on hold order last November 29, 2022 following the request of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Department of Agriculture Inspectorate and Enforcement (DA I&E).
It was revealed during the inspection of the DA-IE, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force (CAIDTF), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), and Customs Intelligence & Investigation Services (CIIS), that the cargo initially declared as insulators, surge arresters, slippers outsoles, and styrene butadiene rubber were actually refined cane sugar.
According to Assistant Secretary James Layug, DA is now preparing to file legal charges against the shipment’s consignee — Burias Jang Consumer Goods Trading– for the misdeclaration and misclassification of the shipment as both the Food Safety Act of 2013 (Republic Act No. 10611) and the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016 (Republic Act No. 10845) were violated. ###
