A composite team from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Manila International Container Port – Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (MICP-CIIS), and Bureau of Customs (BOC) was deployed to inspect the shipments consigned to Taculog J International Consumer Goods Trading on December 14, 2022 and December 16, 2022.

The cargo was initially declared to contain steamed buns.

Following a derogatory report submitted to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for DA Inspectorate and Enforcement (DA I&E), the team was directed to probe the 8  forty-footer container vans, which were later found to contain yellow onions, red onions, frozen fish tofu, and frozen squid flower. The estimated value of the misdeclared and misclassified agri-produce amount to  P53.6 million.

The Department of Agriculture is currently preparing charges against those involved personalities for violating Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016 (R.A. 10845) and the Food Safety Act of 2013 (R.A. 10611).

Assistant Secretary James Layug explained that there are still containers that are subject for physical inspection.###