The Bureau of Customs (BoC), on Wednesday, seized a vessel and lorries containing smuggled liters of fuel allegedly involved in an illegal transfer called “paihi” in the Port of Batangas.

The BoC said the contrabands amount to P402 million.

The report said derogatory information received by the BoC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (BoC-CIIS) led to a joint operation by the CIIS and Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) that caught MTKR Cassandra transferring petroleum products into four lorry tankers.

Subsequent SGS fuel marking testing on the subject fuel yielded failed results, which meant that the fuel did not have proper markings indicating payment of duties and taxes, prompting the District Collector of the BoC-Port of Batangas to issue a Warrant of Seizure and Detention against the subject fuel, vessel, and lorries.

BoC-CIIS Director Verne Enciso, whose team led the operation together with the BoC-ESS, said they had had their watchful eye on this “paihi” modus for some time now.

“When we received the information about the illegal activities at the Port of Batangas, we immediately verified it through our sources and made plans to inspect the said port. Our coordination with the local port officers and enforcement units led us to MTKR Cassandra, which we caught in the act of transferring fuel products into the lorries on Tuesday night,” he said.

The official added that the team immediately asked the ship’s captain to show the crew list and documents to prove the legality of the berthing and discharge.

However, the captain failed to provide documents except for the crew’s seaman’s books, leading to the seizure of the ship and lorries that are now docked at the breakwater in the vicinity of Batangas port and guarded by BoC personnel.