Greed is also a disease that harms a whole nation.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently foiled an attempt to smuggle PHP20 million (around US$412,852) worth of imported rice from China into the Port of Manila (POM).
“BOC intercepted the illegal rice loaded in 12 container vans after the shipment was alerted by the agency’s Command Center last October 4 based on suspicious images captured by closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras,” reports Raymund F. Antonio in Manila Bulletin.
BOC chief Nicanor Faeldon identified the shipment’s consignee as RPR International Trading, while the broker was a certain “Ibarra Tiangco.”
He ordered the suspension of their accreditation in the Department of Finance (DOF)-attached agency.
The report noted: “The illegal rice shipment was declared to contain leatherette upon arrival at the Manila Port. But actual inspection showed the container vans were filled with illegal rice from China.”
According to Faeldon, in his almost four months in office, this is the first time an importer attempted to smuggle rice at POM. He explained that “previous rice seizures of BOC were mostly in Mindanao, where they intercepted five vessels carrying illegally imported rice.”
