UMABOT 413 piraso ng Casio G-Shock watches na nagkakahalaga ng P4 milyon na tangkang ipuslit sa pamamagitan ng pagtatago sa loob ng balikbayan boxes ang nasakote ng Bureau of Customs CIIS sa Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), kahapon.
Ang mga balikbayan boxes ay ipinadala nina Jeffrey N. Valencia, Peter Paul Bayani, Winly Dael Duran, Blessie Jao, at Leland Marquez kina Jennifer N. Valencia, Edward Ochave, Clarisse D. Karingal, Genevieve Ochave, at Edmund Discutido.
Naunang inalerto ng Customs Intelligence group sa NAIA na pinamumunuan ni IO Joel Pinawin ang nasabing kargamento at makaraang ma-inspection ng Customs examiners ay tumambad ang mamahaling relo na idineklarang personal effects.
Agad nagpalabas ng seizure order si NAIA customs district collector Edgar Macabeo dahil sa paglabag sa Section 2530 paragraphs E, F, I,L ng Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.
Tiniyak ni Macabeo na mahigpit ang ginagawa nilang monitoring sa packages na pumapasok at lalabas ng bansa.
Aniya, “We are closely monitoring all packages coming in or going out of the country. We have received reports that certain individuals are trying to use various cargo forwarding companies to try and smuggle items into the country.”
Dahil umano rito matagumpay nilang nabibigo ang mga nagtatangkang magpuslit ng high value items.
“Our heightened vigilance at all airports is thwarting smugglers from using attempting to sneak in high value items in the country.
“These smugglers will now have difficulty in their illegal operations with our continued vigilance against these scalawags,” dagdag ni Collector Macabeo.
(Gloria Galuno)