P10-M smuggled rice seized in Zamboanga Sibugay

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Government security forces have seized at least 15,000 sacks of smuggled rice with an estimated value of P10 million at a coastal village in R.T Lim town, Zamboanga Sibugay province, authorities said yesterday.

The sacks of rice reportedly came from Malaysia on board M/L Shaida.

The shipment was transferred to two trucks and a van, which were intercepted at a checkpoint in Barangay Magsaysay last Thursday.

Local officials initially accounted for about 15,000 sacks of rice, each weighing 25 kilos, with an estimated market value of P10.5 million.

But reports based on the joint accounting of the police and the Bureau of Customs said the three vehicles were carrying only 736 sacks of rice.