From left: Sugar Regulatory Administration Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and Philippine Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio hold a press briefing on May 29, 2025 after the inspection of smuggled goods at the Port of Manila. (Photo by Jordeene B. Lagare)
MANILA, Philippines — Local authorities seized around P90 million worth of smuggled sugar and cigarettes at the Port of Manila on Thursday.
Officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Customs and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) jointly inspected the confiscated products. Those consisted of P9 million worth of smuggled sugar and P81.06 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.
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According to the DA, the authorities seized four container vans loaded with 2,000 50-kilo bags of refined sugar from Thailand that had been imported by Roxas City-based Lapaz Multi-purpose Cooperative.
Earlier in January, two other container vans carried refined sugar but were declared as sweetener mix. The consignee, Yabai OPC, declared the cargo abandoned.
As for the cigarettes, I and C KR Philippines Manufacturing Corp. imported those from Taiwan. The goods had been initially declared as fabrics.
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“We cannot let these illicit trading practices undermine the agriculture sector and hurt our farmers, particularly those in the sugar industry,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
Both LMC and Yobai will be blacklisted by the SRA since they are registered sugar traders and importers.
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