BOC withdraws smuggling complaint vs two importers

CEBU, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs withdrew the smuggling complaint lodged against two Cebuanas who were earlier charged of the said crime.

BOC Commissioner John Sevilla in his “Notice of Withdrawal of the Complaint-Affidavit” addressed to Claro Arellano, prosecutor general of the Department of Justice stated that after a re-evaluation of the records, it shows that the handling lawyers of BOC-Run After the Smugglers inadvertently misappreciated the relevant facts.

With this, Sevilla said that the complaint-affidavit dated October 3, 2013 of lawyer Danilo Campos, Jr. of RATS against businesswoman/importer Maricris Wu and Customs broker Fares Fel Roma is withdrawn.

It can be recalled that Wu’s shipment of five 20-footer container vans loaded with green mongo beans were put under alert by former BOC Deputy Commissioner Danilo Lim on March 22, 2013.

BOC Port of Cebu issued alert orders after receiving information that thousands of rice shipment from Vietnam, reportedly smuggled, arrived in Cebu between March to April in 2013.

Wu’s shipment, which came from Myanmar, was likewise suspected to contain smuggled rice.

However, upon inspection as certified by Customs examiner Abella, in her memorandum for former district collector Edward dela Cuesta dated March 25, 2013, it was found out that Wu did not misdeclare the beans and that no violation of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended, was committed.

Despite this, RATS proceeded with the filing of the smuggling complaint against Wu, who have been importing green mongo beans and other beans for the past 11 years and has no derogatory records with the BOC. — (FREEMAN)