Coast Guard intercepts smuggled rice in Basilan
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Friday intercepted 22,000 sacks of suspected smuggled rice in Basilan City.
In a report released yesterday, the PCG said the contraband was seized from two vessels – M/L Overseas and M/L Nadeepa – off Tamuk Island by operatives of Multi-Role Response Vessel 4408 and PCG Southwestern Mindanao District.
The team sighted Overseas at around 4 p.m. and found 10,000 bags of rice without any pertinent documents.
Around 20 minutes later, the team spotted Nadeepa. Upon their inspection, PCG personnel discovered 12,000 undocumented sacks of rice.
Both vessels were escorted to Zamboanga City Port for their turnover to the Bureau of Customs.
The seizure of suspected smuggled rice came amid shortage of supply in Southern Mindanao, which reportedly prompted local officials to allow entry of the contraband from neighboring countries.
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