600,000 Sacks of Rice from Vietnam Seized

At least P1.2 billion worth of smuggled rice from Vietnam was seized by the Bureau of Customs earlier today.

BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Danilo Lim led the confiscation of the 600,000 sacks of rice insided the 1,169 twenty-footer vans illegally imported from Vietnam.

“We’ve just intercepted the mother of all smuggled rice. We’ve hit the mother lode,” said Lim. Lim explained the discovery was the result of their enhanced intelligence work and improved profiling system. Had the shipment been able to get through, Lim said the government would have lost P600 million in duties and taxes.

The hot rice, which reportedly arrived between March 18 and April 2 at the Port of Cebu, was consigned to eight different companies namely JJM Global Trading, JM-ARS Trading, Neon Gateway Trading, Ocean Park Enterprises, Custans Enterprises, Melma Enterprises, NMW Enterprises and MMSM Trading.