Suspected big-time smuggler faces charges

Customs Commissoner George Jereos ordered yesterday the immediate filing of charges against a suspected big-time smuggler after authorities seized large stockpiles of smuggled used clothing worth P120 million hidden in a warehouse and an apartment in Muntinlupa City.

President Arrroyo ordered the Bureau of Customs to distribute the contraband to the thousands of landslide and flashflood victims in Quezon and several other provinces.

Manuel Bergara is on the list of big-time smugglers being targeted by the Customs bureau.

Jereos visited the warehouse and apartment and was stunned by the thousands of bales of used clothes, allegedly sneaked into the country through the Subic free port in Zambales.

"The seized used clothing, in thousands of bales intended for ukay-ukay (bargain) outlets in Metro Manila, could provide the needed clothing for victims of an entire community in Aurora, Quezon, or any other place ravaged by the recent series of devastating typhoons," said Ronnie Silvestre, port of Manila district collector.

Jereos ordered the Deputy Commissioner Rey Nicolas, head of the bureau’s intelligence and enforcement division, to bring the contraband to the National Disaster Coordinating Council at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Jereos has also ordered an investigation to find out how the contraband got into the country.

Aside from the seized used clothing, Mrs. Arroyo also ordered the Bureau of Customs yesterday to turn over to the NDCC all smuggled food products for distribution to typhoon victims, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said. — With Marichu Villanueva