Over 300 tons of smuggled vegetables were seized from an illegal storage facility in Navotas City in a joint raid by the Department of Agriculture (DA) Inspectorate and Enforcement Office and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), on Thursday night.
Based on the information provided by Agriculture Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel Jr., the joint investigation conducted in coordination with other law enforcement units, led to the discovery and seizure of smuggled vegetables, including onions and carrots.
Initial reports from the raiding team identified one of the two cold storage facilities contained 132.75 tons of white onions, valued at Php21.2 million. While another storage yielded 89.89 tons of imported carrots approximately valued at Php13.48 million.
Moreover, operatives also uncovered the following goods in the raid:
- 360 kilos of tomatoes
- 10 kilos of enoki mushrooms
- 40-footer container van loaded with 92.25 tons of imported white onions
"We cannot allow illegal trade practices such as this to continue hurting the livelihood of our farmers. The order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is clear: Go after these smugglers without let up,” Secretary Tiu Laurel Jr. stressed.
Secretary Laurel extended his appreciation for the critical support from Navotas Mayor John Rey Tiangco and Congressman Toby Tiangco, highlighting their coordination with local police and barangay officials.
The public is encouraged to report any information on the smuggling of agricultural products to officials, to ensure that Filipino farmers’ interests and livelihoods are protected.
