‘168’ gets visit from PDEA

Two days after being raided by almost 500 Customs agents and police officers, a popular mall in Manila received another "visit" yesterday from authorities checking on another form of illegal contraband.

A Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) team with eight drug-sniffing dogs were deployed to the 168 Shopping Mall in Divosria, Manila before noon to check on reports that some traders were smuggling shabu into the country by concealing them inside merchandise intended for stalls at the mall.

"Actually, we have been hearing about stories of people finding sachets of shabu inside clothes they bought at 168. We wanted to find out if these stories were true so we asked PDEA to bring their dogs," BOC Deputy Commissioner Celso Templo said yesterday.

He said it was public perception that the imported clothes were simply being used to smuggle drugs into Metro Manila.

"Kaya daw mura ang bilihin sa 168," Templo said, explaining that the drug trade is where syndicates really make money.

Templo said they coordinated with the PDEA and asked for their trained dogs because "if we checked the items ourselves, some people might not believe our findings."

The dogs arrived on the third day of an ongoing inventory of items confiscated from two buildings of 168 Shopping Mall. Last Thursday, some 20,000 boxes of assorted goods were seized after their owners failed to show proof that they had complied with Customs and tax laws.

Mall tour

Apart from sniffing items at 741 stalls, the PDEA dogs were also taken to the 79 mini-warehouses on the third floor.

As of press time yesterday, PDEA has yet to find any illegal substance.

Templo said the raid was above board, pointing out that during the inspection of the contents of warehouses, they were accompanied by stall owners or their representatives, building security personnel and barangay officials.

After the inspection, the rooms were locked and resealed.

The stores remained closed as the BOC continued its inventory and hauling of confiscated items to storage houses at the BOC-Port of Manila (POM) and the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

At present, they have some 700 Customs personnel working on the papers and the transferring of goods.

They have so far completed about 20 percent of the inventory.

Templo noted that some of the owners have not appeared and some of the warehouses were still locked.

He said that under the law, they are authorized to destroy the padlocks to open the other warehouses.

"But we are not doing this because we are tempering the law with mercy," he said.

Templo, however, warned stall owners to cooperate with the BOC and prove that they paid appropriate duties and taxes for the goods. He gave them a week — until March 25 — to present the necessary documents.

Asked if there were influential people trying to intercede on behalf of some of the stall owners, Templo said, "if they tried to talk to us, it is only to appeal for us to handle the seized goods carefully. That is the reason I am here, which is to prevent such a situation so our men would not be intimidated."

Visibly pleased

Col. Joey Yuchongco, Customs police chief, said security has been tight around the building with some 200 Customs policemen being deployed at any given time.

They have even apprehended a suspected thief who was trying to bring out several items.

"The raid at the 168 is regarded as the BOC’s biggest operation. Did you notice that despite the number of stall owners, employees and customers at the mall, there was order during the operation. We were able to handle the situation very well, to the point that we even received positive feedback from the US Embassy," Yuchongco said.

He added that their performance was lauded by President Arroyo several times. She reportedly sent congratulatory text messages to Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales thrice.

She also made mention of their successful operation to the American Chamber of Commerce during a recent meeting in Makati City. "She is really monitoring our movement."

Last Thursday’s raid was a result of the issuance of 221 warrants of seizure and detention by POM District Collector Horacio Suansing Jr. over the inaccurate payment of taxes and duties.

Collector Gerry Macatangay, of the POM Pier Inspection Division, said they have so far filled 22,000 sacks with confiscated items.

"We only take items that violate the Intellectual Property Rights Code and the smuggled goods, but we leave the locally-made items behind," he said.