The Bureau of Customs busted a sugar warehouse in Pampanga on Thursday, Aug. 18, for allegedly hoarding thousands of sacks of sugar amid consumer complaints on the increasing sugar price in the market.
Authorities immediately seized suspected hoarded sacks of imported sugar from Thailand neatly stockpiled by the thousands inside the warehouse at the Lison Building in Brgy. Del Pilar. BOC agents also seized hundreds of sacks of sugar found loaded inside delivery vans.
“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,” Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez ordered the BOC acting on a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to hold visitorial powers to all customs-bonded warehouses to find out any suspicious hoarding of sugar.
Reports reaching the Office of the Executive Secretary said such massive importation of sugar could result in windfall profits for the traders of at least P300 million with a portion of the amount earmarked as lobby money.
A Chinese-Filipino warehouse keeper Jimmy Ng received the Letter of Authority and Mission Order 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.
Warehouse owners may face charges of smuggling in relation to the provisions of The Customs Modernization Act (CMTA) if proven that the Thailand sugar was smuggled.(PR)
KC-ag
