Customs exec to give list of smugglers to successor

MANILA, Philippines - Customs Deputy Commissioner Jessie Dellosa will give his successor a “watchlist” of suspected smugglers.

During the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Intelligence Group (IG)’s 19th command conference, Dellosa gave instructions to all port and division chiefs to submit to him the list of suspected players, importers and brokers engaged in smuggling activities in their areas.

It has been a practice in the IG to come out with periodic watchlists. Dellosa said the BOC’s frontline officers and field officers would benefit from the list and that the information will also be useful to the next IG chief.

“Our field officers and our frontliners, who scan (the entries of shipments), would benefit from the list because if the name of someone in the watchlist appears in the document,” the shipment and its documents would be thoroughly checked, he said.

“This information could also be useful to the next IG chief because he or she would be familiar with the players.”

The watchlist would be useful in tracking down the smugglers, who change their location of operation, especially when they experience difficulty in dealing with the BOC.

Dellosa said smugglers identified almost three years ago continue to operate up until today.

“However, we noticed that in some ports, there are smugglers who have stopped operations and there are those who have slowed down,” he said.

Dellosa said those placed in their watchlist are personalities or companies that already have derogatory records with the BOC, including players who either legally or illegally help facilitate the release of imported shipments.