ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A passenger vessel from Sulu loaded with around 1,000 sacks of smuggled rice was seized here yesterday, an official said yesterday.
M/V Magnolia Liliflora had just entered the wharf at 4:30 a.m. when it was held, said Superintendent Ariel Huesca, commander of the Public Safety Battalion.
Huesca said the shipment was turned over to the Bureau of Customs for inventory and confiscation.
Security forces here have intensified their operation against rice smuggling amid reports that smuggled rice from Sulu end up in markets here.