Customs seize P40-M worth of smuggled Peking ducks

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BoC) on Thursday seized two 40-footer reefer vans filled with P40 million worth of illegally imported Peking ducks and pigeons. Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said the shipment, declared as frozen mackerel, arrived from China on Tuesday at the Port of Manila and was consigned to HEXA Trading. “This will definitely be a costly lesson for HEXA Trading as not only will the BOC confiscate their two reefer vans of Peking ducks and pigeons, but we will also sue the officials of this company for violations of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines,” Biazon added. He commended the operatives of the BOC’s X-Ray Inspection Project for making sure such shipments undergo X-ray. “The importer of these Peking ducks and pigeons may have underestimated the capabilities of our x-ray machines and thought that they would be able to do away with their illegal trade by concealing their hot shipment behind the pile of boxes of frozen mackerel inside the reefer vans,” he said.