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Friday, February 13, 2004
Tighter watch on ‘hot’ rice
By Elias O. Baquero
THE Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) of the Bureau of Customs will work with other law enforcement agencies to prevent the entry of smuggled rice during the election period.
This after Capt. Isidro Estrera, ESS district commander, received a report that a group of rice smugglers, who imported Vietnam rice in the past, met at a restaurant in Cebu City last week.
Although Estrera had no idea what was it all about, what alarmed him was the alleged presence of a customs official in that meeting.
Estrera also received reports that these smugglers are raising funds for candidates in the May 10, 2004 elections. He did not name names, though.
“Whether it is true or not, the best we can do is to be vigilant all the time,” he said.
Estrera said the ESS will coordinate with the Coast Guard, Navy, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 in monitoring the entry of smuggled rice from February to May 2004.
Both the NBI 7 and CIDG 7 have apprehended container vans of smuggled goods, which were already released by the customs bureau. Most of the seized items were misdeclared, a violation of Section 2530 of the Tariff and Customs Code.
The other day, the ESS and the warrant and vehicle monitoring unit, headed by Gino Minguilian, intercepted a 40-footer container van of luxury cars that had been forfeited in favor of the government.
Estrera suspected that the attempt to spirit out seized goods from the Cebu International Port is also part of the fund-raising activities for some candidates in the May polls.
The shipment is consigned to EGR Trading and was declared as personal belongings. The actual contents, however, were luxury cars.
ESS investigation showed that the shipment was covered by an import entry with paid duties and taxes.
But the ESS found out that former Customs District Collector Juan Tan forfeited it in favor of the government on May 12, 2002 yet.
(February 13, 2004 issue)
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