By Jim Lloyd Dongiapon
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Zamboanga, in a press release issued today, January 31, confirmed that they seized P18.6 million in smuggled onions on board a vessel in Barangay Ayala, Zamboanga City, on January 25.
This comes after the recent operation on January 23, in which 44,000 kilos of smuggled red onions were seized in a dockyard at Varadero de Cawit, Barangay Cawit, Zamboanga City
During the maritime operation of BOC Port of Zamboanga’s Water Patrol Division, they confiscated a total of 7,860 mesh bags of red and white onions, with an estimated total market value of ₱18.6 million, from a vessel named “MV Princess Nurdisza,” which reportedly originated from Taganak, Tawi-Tawi and was bound for Barangay Baliwasan in Zamboanga City.
Upon inspection, the crew on board failed to present a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance from the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Bureau of Plant Industry for the smuggled goods.
They have violated Section 1401 of Republic Act (R.A.) 10863, also known as the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016,” in relation to R.A. 10845, or the “Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.”
The seized onions were brought to the DA’s Agriculture’s Research Center in Barangay Talisayan, Zamboanga City, for safekeeping.
Meanwhile. District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Z. Barte, Jr. shared that the operation last Wednesday was the third successful interception of illegally imported onions, following January 22 and 23 operations.
Barte added that in response to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s order to reduce agricultural smuggling in the county, they are conducting an aggressive campaign to implement stricter border control measures through ongoing maritime patrol operations in Western Mindanao.