Two reefer vans of smuggled frozen Peking ducks and pigeons were intercepted by the Bureau of Customs at the Port of Manila on Thursday, a feat attributed to advanced x-ray machines.
Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon, in a press statement, said the smuggled shipments were hidden under boxes of mackerel, the declared cargo.
He said the importer, HEXA Trading, "may have underestimated the capabilities of our x-ray machines."
The Customs bureau will confiscate the shipment, worth around P40 million, and HEXA Trading officers will face charges for violating the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines, Biazon said.
Lawyer Lourdes Mangaoag, head of the BOC X-Ray Inspection Project, said Biazon had given standing orders to scan all reefer vans for contraband in light of the coming Christmas season. "With the way the Peking ducks and pigeons were stuffed, the intention to illegally sneak these frozen food products into the country is obvious," she said.
Mangaoag said the illegal shipment would have been difficult to find if not for the x-ray machines
Twelve people were killed in the Philippines on Saturday as troops clashed with a militant group blamed for the country's deadliest terror attacks, the military said.
