2 BOC personnel held for extortion

MANILA, Philippines — Two Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel were arrested in an entrapment operation on Tuesday for allegedly extorting P300,000 from an importer in exchange for the release of a shipment.

In a statement yesterday, the BOC identified the two employees as appraiser Zosimo Bello and examiner Salvador Seletaria, assigned at the Port of Manila.

In plain sight of agents of the BOC and the National Bureau of Investigation, the complainant handed over to Bello and Seletaria a white envelope containing P30,000 in marked money while dining in a restaurant in Manila, the BOC said.