BOC seizes P3.5M worth of smuggled meat from China

The Bureau of Customs said it recently seized two containers of misdeclared meat products from China, valued at P3.5 million.

The shipment arrived at the Port of Manila South Harbor early this October.

In a statement on Wednesday, the BOC said a shipment of pork and other meat products consigned to JRA & Pearl Enterprises arrived at the South Harbor on October 8.

The initial report stated that the consignee declared the shipment as food enhancers or seasoning and tomato paste worth P337,264.

However, physical examination by the BOC found that the shipment actually contained misdeclared meat products valued at around P3.5 million.

The bureau issued a Warrant of Seizure and Detention against the shipment for violation of the Customs Modernization Tariff Act. 

GMA News Online has contacted JRA & Pearl Enterprises for a statement, but its representative Jacob Tuballa has yet to respond as of this posting.

Tuballa, field operations manager at JRA & Pearl, noted the company was not aware that their shipment had been seized/

JRA & Pearl will review the matter before issuing a statement. —Julia Mari Ornedo/RSJ/VDS, GMA News