The Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted 12 forty-foot equivalent units (FEUs) of imported rice from China that were illegally shipped to the Port of Manila.
The shipment, which has an estimated value of P20 million, was initially declared to contain leatherette. It arrived at the Port of Manila on August 20 and was issued an alert order by the BOC Command Center on October 4 based on suspicious images captured by CCTV cameras. An inspection revealed all containers carried thousands of sacks of rice, but none of the declared material.
Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon in a statement said the shipment was abandoned by the owner after the alert was raised.
The shipment is consigned to RPR International Trading, with business address at Severino Reyes St., Sta. Cruz, Manila. Faeldon has already ordered the suspension of the consignee’s accreditation as importer.
The customs chief said this is the first time an importer’s attempt to smuggle rice of this value into the country via the Port of Manila was foiled.
Faeldon said he is looking at donating the seized rice to government agencies tasked to distribute relief goods to victims of recent typhoons.
Image courtesy of naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
