The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday sued before the Department of Justice a couple of traders and their Customs brokers for attempting to smuggle P38 million worth laboratory equipment and P17.6 million worth of illegal drugs.
Sued were Wilfredo Armario Bitancor of the Binondo-based trading firm W.A. Bitancor and his customs broker Franco Robiso Celso, and trader Marvin Simon Sia, according to a Customs Bureau statement.
They supposedly violated the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines and the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act.
The bureau said the laboratory equipment are those used in producing the illegal drug “shabu,” or crystalline hydrochloride that stimulates the nervous system, and Ecstasy — also a stimulant.
“The increasing number of seizures of big volumes of dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals show the extent of drug abuse and the illegal drug trade in the country,” Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon noted in the same statement.
Last year, the bureau claimed that Customs operatives seized P38 million of laboratory equipments and materials from Bitancor’s seven 20-foot container vans, which also contained 160 drums of sulphuric acid and N-Butyl Acetate, 445
bags of Caustic Soda, Oxychem and Hypo chloride solutions.
In the case of Sia, the bureau said his shipment was nabbed by Customs operatives last January including nine packages of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride or “shabu” and, Piperonal, a precursor for producing Ecstasy. The bureau estimated the haul at P17.6 million.
“The Bureau of Customs, as the gatekeeper of goods entering the country, shall not allow ill-minded businessmen who exploit and waste the lives of our youth for quick money out of illegal drugs to exist,” Biazon noted.
“Illegal drugs and its precursors have always been one of [Custom’s] closely watched items entering our ports,” said Deputy Commissioner Danilo Lim.
Twelve smuggling cases have been filed so far by the bureau since Biazon was appointed last September as Customs chief. — RRD/VS, GMA News
3 comments