At least 18 container vans carrying suspected smuggled sugar have been intercepted in General Santos City in southern Mindanao, the Sugar Regulatory Administration said.
SRA Administrator Gina Martin dispatched a team of SRA lawyers and members of the anti-sugar smuggling task force to investigate the incident.
“General Santos Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio called me up to ask if they could open the suspected container vans," Martin said in an article posted Saturday on news site Visayan Daily Star.
Martin said the shipment was discovered when police tried to check on a container van that was already out of the customs area in General Santos Thursday.
Police suspected the container vans contained sugar after the driver fled.
A search warrant sought by Custodio paved the way for the opening of the van Thursday night.
Upon inspection, the vans yielded sugar with markings showing it came from Brazil.
Martin said that if the sugar is confirmed smuggled, it will not be auctioned off but will be classified as reserve sugar for the country.
An initial SRA report said there were two shipments to General Santos – one composed of 10 container vans declared as containing 7,800 bags of Aseptic Bags, and another one composed of 11 container vans.
The shipment that was loaded in Singapore was consigned to Unervene Trading with address at the national highway, General Santos City, the report said.
The search confirmed that the sugar markings showed it was manufactured in Brazil, the report added.
On Friday afternoon, the remaining 17 container vans in the customs yard were inspected. All contained sugar from Brazil.
Since only 17 vans were left in the BoC yard and one van was apprehended outside, it is suspected that three vans had already gotten out of customs yard ahead of the one that was apprehended, the SRA report said.
Since the shipment was misdeclared, the true number of bags needs to be verified. An inventory is scheduled to be conducted on Monday with the Mayor's Office in the lead, the SRA report added.
Container vans that carry imported sugar normally hold about 500 bags each, the report said.—JV
