A composite team of government agents swooped down on a warehouse in Tondo, Manila on Friday night and seized 1,147 bags of white onions valued at P1.95 million.

Armed with a Letter of Authority signed by Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, the team coordinated with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and visited a storage facility in DNR Building along Sto. Cristo Street.

The team was composed of the Bureau of Customs – Manila International Container Port (BOC-MICP), Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Operations Section, Enforcement and Security Service-Quick Response Team (ESS-QRT), Customs Examiners of the Formal Entry Division, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and National Capital Regional Police Office-Philippine National Police (NCRPO-PNP).

The team failed to find the building owner or building administrator but asked two Barangay Kagawad to receive the LOA on behalf of the owner or building administrator.

Upon searching the building premises, the team found white onions, which a DA-BPI representative positively identified as illegally imported because no permit was presented.

The seized white onions were turned over to DA-BPI and were hauled into the BPI warehouse in Malate, Manila.

In keeping with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s instruction, the BOC under Ruiz continues to be resolute in its campaign against the smuggling of agricultural products.#