Tacurong City police director Joel Limson, in a radio interview, said that during the raid, at least 80 of the re-bagged rice were already placed in a 16-wheeler truck and was about to be delivered to a buyer in Davao City.
Limson, citing data from a police investigation, has identified the owner of the Tacurong Agri-World Rice Mill as certain Bernardo Tan.
Tan, however, was not present when his warehouse was raided by the composite team led by Tacurong City Councilor Excel Pauya and Vicente Gopes.
An investigator from the NFA in Sultan Kudarat and Carmen Porto from the Department of Trade and Industry were also present.
The police raiding team was led by Inspector Antonio Barroquillo of the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) unit of the Tacurong City PNP and SPO4 Miguel Biadoma of the Special Operations Group.
Limson said concerned citizens reported the activities in Tan's warehouse situated at Purok New Negros in Barangay San Pablo.
When the police and representatives from DTI and NFA raided the area, at 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, they saw 10 laborers of Tan hauling the re-bagged rice to the Isuzu truck with plate number MVW 105.
"The laborers told us, when we asked them, the bags would be delivered to a buyer in Davao City whom they refused to identify," Limson said.
Local officials in Tacurong City said that it is upsetting to know that in the midst of crisis, they see NFA rice being re-bagged as other variety and sold at higher prices.
Police in Tacurong City are readying charges against Tan and his laborers.
