4 Customs officials in hot water

Four Bureau of Customs (BOC) assessment personnel are in hot water for the fraudulent release of four of eight 40-foot container vans of frozen meat from Brazil held by authorities at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) for violation of Customs laws two weeks ago.

BOC Chief Renato Ampil said the whole shipment valued at P20 million was grossly undervalued at $138,828.62.

Chief of the Special Projects Team (SPT) Collector Jaime Maglipon of the Office of the Commissioner said an appraiser and two examiners have initially been made to explain why they should not be charged criminally and administratively in connection with the irregular release.

Also implicated in the caper is a manifest clerk who allegedly tampered with the bill of lading allowing the shipments to be assessed a lower tariff and avoid payment of correct taxes.

The manipulations resulted in the reduction of tariff by some 50 percent, Maglipon said. Customs authorities, however, were not willing to release the names of the suspects pending further investigation.

Meanwhile, Dennis Bantegui, chief for operations of the SPT, said the 40-footers earlier shanghaied out of the piers last Oct. 26 have been recovered.

Bantegui said they traced two of the container vans to the JM Cold Storage along Faraday street in Makati and the other two to the Polar Cold Storage in Manggahan, Pasig City. – Jerry Botial

Prior to seizure of the smuggled meats (whole chickens and pork sides), Ampil issued an alert to prevent entry of disease-carrying, contaminated or adulterated meat or meat products that could endanger the lives and safety of the consuming public.

Maglipon said the meat firm from Brazil was not in the list of accredited meat exporters of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The import documents presented to the authorities were also forged, Maglipon added. – Jerry Botial