'Drug shipment released by unauthorized brokers'

MANILA, Philippines - Some employees of the Bureau of Customs assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) are in “hot water” following a complaint by a multi-million drug firm for allowing the release of their drug shipment to one brokerage firm whom the company did not authorize. In an information gathered from the BOC Internal Investigation and Prosecution Division, the names of the BOC staff involved in the alleged irregularity were temporarily withheld pending investigation.

Aside from charges set to be filed at the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Bureau of Investigation is also conducting its own investigation regarding the matter.

Report reaching the BOC-IIPD, the complaint was filed by Zuellig Pharma Corp., a multi-million drug firm, when their drug shipment amounting to P8.4 million which arrived at the Philippine Skylander, Inc.warehouse of the premier airport from the United States disappeared during the time that the release paper was being processed on March 2.

In a letter sent by lawyer Michael Alamis, lawyer of the Zuellig Pharma Corp., to BOC Commissioner Napoleon Morales, the company requested the intervention of the latter in finding and recovering the missing shipment released by an unauthorized brokerage firm. Based on a letter by the said drug firm, the unauthorized brokerage company refused to surrender the shipment to them if they will not pay P1.478 million duties and taxes they paid to the bureau.

The alleged irregularity was uncovered by the drug company when they discovered that the documents used by the said brokerage firm was fake.