P26-M smuggled onions seized at Manila port

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized yesterday P26.4 million worth of onions allegedly smuggled into the country from China.

BOC Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the illegal shipment was stored inside 18 40-footer reefer containers reportedly consigned to JCS International Freight Services, Philippine Container Lines, AGR Trading, and Golden Shine Enterprises.

Based on the shipping documents, the container vans were supposed to carry garlic but random inspection conducted by the BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) showed that it actually contained red and green onions.

The Union of Growers and Onion Traders (Ugat), represented by its president Magtangol Alvarez, estimated the value of the shipment at P26 million. Each van was reportedly worth P1.2 million.

Morales said there is an existing ban on the importation of onions because the Department of Agriculture (DA) did not issue an importation permit for China since February because there is an overproduction of onions in the country.

“The importers tried to pass off the importation as a shipment of garlic, but after X-ray and manual examination, we found out that the garlic shipment also contained onions the exact same size as the garlic. The importers were probably hoping that the X-ray would not be able to detect the difference,” said Morales.

Under customs and agriculture rules, importers need to secure the necessary import permits before they are allowed to bring vegetable and meat products into the country.

CIIS investigators believe the shipment was declared as garlic since the DA still allows its importation.

With the holiday season a few months away, the BOC said there is a possibility that there would be more attempts to smuggle onions into the country.

The onions, which arrived on different dates from August to September, will be destroyed, authorities said.  – Evelyn Macairan