CUSTOMS operatives, backed by a Philippine National Police (PNP) team, raided several warehouses in Marilao, Bulacan, on Tuesday, after receiving information that large quantities of suspected smuggled rice with an estimated market value of P300 million were stashed.
A joint Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) and PNP team conducted the raid on seven warehouses at the Federal Corp. Compound in Barangay Ibayo, Marilao, Bulacan, where some 125,000 sacks of imported rice were discovered. Initial reports said the rice were imported from Thailand, China and India. Representatives from the National Food Authority in Bulacan were present when the Customs’s CIIS and PNP raided the compound, where 7 out of the total 11 warehouses inside the compound were being used to store the smuggled rice.
Customs authorities are waiting for the warehouse owners, lessee or the owner of the imported goods, to present proof that payment of duties and taxes has been made for the imported rice.