AT LEAST 105 tons shipment of alleged smuggled rice were intercepted by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a private wharf in Zamboanga City, an official said Monday, September 17.

Lawyer Moises Tamayo, NBI regional director, said the smuggled rice shipment, worth P4.2 million, was intercepted around 1:14 a.m. Monday in a private wharf in the village of Baliwasan.

Tamayo said the shipment was intercepted after they received a reliable information from a tipster that two wooden-hulled vessels were unloading sacks of rice in the private wharf.

But Tamayo said the two vessels were gone when they managed to reach the wharf aboard a vessel of the Philippine Coast Guard since the port's gate was closed and no one answered when they knocked.

He said they managed to apprehend 17 "Bongo" trucks loaded with 2,100 sacks of rice of 50 kilos each or for a total of 105 tons.

He said the 17 trucks and their cargoes were taken to the warehouse of the Philippine Ports Authority after the drivers failed to present documents of the rice shipment. (SunStar Philippines)