BoC-Port of Zamboanga seizes P18.6M worth of imported onions
THE Bureau of Customs-Port of Zamboanga (BoC-POZ) seized P18.6 million worth of smuggled onions on board a vessel in Barangay Ayala, Zamboanga City, on Wednesday, January 25.
Through the Water Patrol Division, the POZ intercepted 5,611 mesh bags of imported red onions with an estimated market value of P8.5 million and 2,249 mesh bags of imported white onions valued at P10.1 million during a maritime patrol operation.
Contrabands are loaded in a vessel marked “MV Princess Nurdisza,” which allegedly came from Taganak, Tawi-Tawi bound for Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City.
The crew failed to provide a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance from the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Bureau of Plant Industry for the goods, thus violating Section 1401 of
Republic Act 10863, known as the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016,” concerning RA 10845 or the “Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.”
The onions were transported to the DA’s Research Center in Barangay Talisayan, Zamboanga City, for safekeeping.
District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr. reported that this apprehension is the third successful seizure of imported onions this week, after the January 22 and 23 operations.
Barte said this is an aggressive campaign under the directive of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz to implement stricter border control measures through continuous maritime patrol operations in Western Mindanao, in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to curb agricultural smuggling in the county.