Senator Francis Pangilinan on Tuesday denounced what he described as a “massive and well-protected” agricultural smuggling operation, claiming it involves Chinese syndicates, local businessmen, and corrupt government officials.

Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, said in a statement that the illicit trade is even more damaging to the economy than the controversial Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, or POGOs.

At a recent committee hearing, Pangilinan said there is mounting evidence pointing to Chinese smugglers colluding with local partners and rogue elements within several key government agencies, including the Bureau of Customs, Department of Agriculture, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Immigration and even the Department of Justice.

He lamented that there is “sufficient circumstantial evidence to believe that Chinese smuggling syndicates, in connivance with local businessmen, protected by a number of employees and officials of the government... allow these Chinese smugglers and their local partners to operate freely.”

The senator argued that occasional seizures of smuggled agricultural goods are merely for show, meant to create a “semblance of law enforcement” while ensuring that “no-big time smuggler is prosecuted for the non-bailable offense of economic sabotage.”