Customs broker, firm face raps for concealing P180-M shabu

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) will file criminal charges against the broker and consignee of the milling equipment allegedly used to conceal P180 million worth of smuggled shabu earlier seized by authorities in Valenzuela City.

The BOC said the shipment of imported milling machines from China was consigned to Joneslaz Trading. The broker was identified as Ferdinand Salcedo.

“We will file criminal charges against the consignee and the broker for violations of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. This is a clear case of smuggling,” BOC Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement Group Ariel Nepomuceno said yesterday.

Nepomuceno said the BOC would confiscate the milling machines used by the suspects to conceal the illegal drugs.

On Tuesday, members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drug Group (PNP-AIDG) caught two Filipino-Chinese men in the act of transporting shabu in Valenzuela City.

Sonny Ang, 67, and Benito Tiuseco, 47, stepped out of a warehouse in Sapang Bakaw, Barangay Lawang Bato and drove away in a Chevrolet Venture, PDEA information chief Glen Malapad said.

Armed with a search warrant, police officers blocked the suspects’ path in front of a gasoline station on Narciso street and searched the vehicle.

They recovered 36 vacuum-sealed foil packs of shabu.

The lawmen then went to the warehouse and found 12 milling machines, still wrapped in cellophane and in their crates.

Despite the success of the operation, the BOC received flak for allegedly allowing the drug shipment in a 40-footer container to slip out of the Port of Manila on Jan. 9.

Nepomuceno, however, said the BOC was aware of the PDEA operation and was “instrumental in the seizure of the shabu.”

“We coordinated with other government agencies,” he said.

Nepomuceno said the law enforcement agencies agreed to conduct a “controlled delivery” for the operation.

In a controlled delivery, the BOC allows a shipment with hot items to leave the port. It is then followed to discover its recipient.

“Under a controlled delivery, you monitor and make the apprehension at the delivery area. It would have been a waste of opportunity to have seized the goods while it was inside the port because we would not have known who owns them,” Nepomuceno said.

Sherwin Andrada, BOC executive officer for anti-illegal drugs, said the PNP-AIDG had been coordinating with his office prior to the operation.

Andrada said the PNP and PDEA called his office on Jan. 11 to verify details on the shipping container that left the port.

“They were unable to operate at the time because they had to apply for a search warrant,” he said.