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Monday, February 23, 2004
BOC police links port officials to seized van’s tampered seal
THE Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) suspects some Port of Cebu officials were in cahoots with smugglers in changing the seal of an apprehended container van.
Capt. Isidro Estrera, ESS district commander, said the color of the van’s original seal was orange when his men intercepted it last Feb. 10. That original seal, he said, was put on the van in Singapore, the port of origin.
The orange seal indicated that the van was not inspected by the assigned customs examiner despite its “red lane” tag, which is subject to automatic inspection.
The other day, however, the original seal was already changed to blue by unknown persons, who could not do it without conniving with some customs personnel, the ESS said.
After its apprehension, the van was returned to the Cebu International Port under the custody of Customs Wharfinger Angel Go.
Estrera said he will request District Collector Billy Bibit for a full examination of the van, as he suspects that the smuggled luxury vehicles inside were already taken out.
He believed that the smugglers broke the orange seal, took out the vehicles and resealed it to make it appear that its contents remain intact. However, a blue seal was placed instead of orange.
Estrera found out that the Mercury Steamship, an international shipping agent, issued the blue seal.
Mercury Steamship officials admitted to Estrera that the blue seal was issued on March 14, 2003 to Dimerco Express, a cargo forwarder, for its client Cebu Mitsumi Inc.
“Under the law, Cebu Mitsumi has accountability (of the seal) for auditing purposes. They can be made to explain,” Estrera said.
He said they may summon Dimerco and Cebu Mitsumi to shed light on why their unused seal has been pasted on the apprehended container van.
The disappearance of the van’s original seal bolstered apprehension of some Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry members that the CIP is no longer safe for cargo storage. EOB
(February 23, 2004 issue)
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