The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday raided a warehouse in Pampanga suspected of hoarding thousands of sacks of sugar consumer complaints about the high price of sugar in the market.
In a press release, the Office of the Press Secretary said agents of the Clark-based Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) and Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) – Quick Reaction Team seized suspected hoarded sacks of imported sugar from Thailand neatly stockpiled inside the warehouse in Barangay Del Pilar, Pampanga.
They also discovered hundreds of sacks of sugar found loaded inside delivery vans.
A Chinese-Filipino warehouse keeper identified as Jimmy Ng received a copy of the LOA and MO from the BOC agents who also found several imported items such as sacks of corn starch from China, sacks of imported flour, plastic products, oil in plastic barrels, motorcycle parts and wheels of different brands, helmets, LED Televisions sets and paints.
If proven that the Thailand sugar was smuggled, the warehouse owners may face charges of smuggling in relation to the provisions of The Customs Modernization Act (CMTA).
The raid was made on orders from Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez in line with the directives from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the BOC to exercise its visitorial powers to all customs bonded warehouses and to check on the inventory of imported agricultural products with the aim of finding out if there is hoarding of sugar.
"The BOC’s Pampanga sugar warehouse raid may very well serve as a warning to unscrupulous traders who are currently hoarding their stocks of sugar in order to profit from the current artificial sugar shortage situation," Rodriguez said in a statement.
