Five suspected smugglers face raps

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales reaffirmed yesterday the government’s determination to combat smugglers as he filed criminal charges against five people allegedly involved in the smuggling of imported used clothing.

The filing of smuggling charges against the five from three different companies brought to 85 the total number of alleged smugglers charged by the Department of Justice under the Bureau of Customs’ Run After The Smugglers (RATS) program.

Morales identified the alleged smugglers as Manuel Bergado, Lucilyn Bergado, Sevillano Zabal, Mylyn Bergado and Fermin Libay.

The five are the incorporators and officers of Interlink Recyclers Phils. Inc. (IRPI), Lazer Mega Wide Trading Inc. (LMWTI) and Mytron Security Systems (MSS).

Charges of violating sections 3601 and 3602 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines in relation to Republic Act 4653, which bans the importation of used clothing, and Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code were filed against the five accused.

Morales told reporters the smuggling case was a result of their successful confiscation of a shipment of used clothes, more popularly known as ukay-ukay, on April 11.

Reports from the BOC Enforcement and Security Service showed that the shipment worth P1.2 million was intercepted at San Fernando in Pampanga following a tip from sources about the illegal import.

Authorities later found a total of 175 bales of imported used clothing inside the truck that came from IRPI in Subic Bay Freeport and were consigned to LMWTI in Manila. Both companies are owned by the Bergado family.

The driver and helper, identified as Edwin Bejer and Richard Quintal respectively, are employees of MSS, which is also owned by the Bergado family.

Upon apprehension the two presented gate passes supposedly issued by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). The authorities found that the passes had been tampered with and were originally issued to Blue Connection and General Services.

In follow-up operations conducted by Customs agents, it was found that the confiscated shipment was just a part of an undetermined amount of used clothing found at the IRPI warehouse.

With the filing of charges against the owners of these companies, Morales hopes to send a strong warning to smugglers to stop their operations because the government is serious in cracking down on illegal importation.

Morales reiterated his previous statement that the BOC campaign against smugglers is an essential part of its goal of meeting the P197-billion collection target for this year.