P2 million smuggled onions seized in Misamis
MANILA, Philippines — Twenty-five tons of suspected smuggled red onions valued at P2 million have been seized in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, authorities reported yesterday.
The onions, which reportedly came from Xiamen, China, were found in a shipping container at the Mindanao International Container Terminal.
Glenn Gerard Panganiban, chief of the Bureau of Plant and Industry, said the shipment arrived on May 26 and was consigned to the Lantix Consumer Goods Trading based in Binondo, Manila.
Panganiban said the shipment was declared as assorted frozen food items, egg noodles, croissant and pizza doughs, buns and spring rolls.
Information received by the BPI plant quarantine service in Cagayan de Oro showed the Bureau of Customs (BOC) requested to hold the container for further inspection.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. yesterday inspected the onions with the help of BOC-Cagayan de Oro port collector Arthur Sevilla Jr.
Tiu Laurel said the Department of Agriculture has not issued sanitary and phytosanitary import permits for red onions from China.
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