The same official said the seizure of 350 kilos of shabu worth P2.4 billion proved that the MICP was serious in helping the government fight drug smuggling.

Officials of the Bureau of Customs-Manila International Container Port (BoC-MICP) claimed to have merely followed procedure in releasing a shipment that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) would later say to have contained P6.8 billion worth of shabu last 9 August.

This came out on the first day of hearing at the House of Representatives’ Committee on Dangerous Drugs chaired by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on the supposed shabu shipment recovered in a warehouse in Cavite.

A BoC official, requesting anonymity, said the MICP was not remiss in its duty in releasing the shipment that the PDEA insisted was part of the P2.4-billion abandoned shabu shipment seized at the MICP.

The abandoned shipment with magnetic lifters arrived at the MICP from Taiwan. It was consigned to SMYD Trading with address at 6/F Suite 605A Victoria Bldg. 429 UN Avenue, Manila with principal officer/manager Marina D. Signapan.

The shipment, with assessed duties and taxes totalling P157,673, was tagged “RED” in the BoC’s Selectivity System and underwent X-ray inspection.

The X-ray results, however, yielded “no suspect” or no suspicious image, thus the subject shipment was not physically examined in accordance with BoC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña’s memorandum dated 26 September 2017. The memorandum stated “all shipments tagged RED are not required to undergo 100 percent X-ray Inspection and only those with suspiscious images shall forthwith be physically examined.”

“The BoC-MICP merely complied with the procedures set by the BoC in releasing and examining shipments. It can’t and should not be blamed for following BoC instructions,” the official said.

The same official said the seizure of 350 kilos of shabu worth P2.4 billion proved that the MICP was serious in helping the government fight drug smuggling.

“If they need someone or something to blame, it should be the outdated X-ray machines in BoC. This fiasco is all about the need to purchase state-of-the art X-ray machines and to strengthen cooperation among intelligence agencies in sharing information on illegal drugs to detect shipments of illegal drugs,” the official said.