WHILE the nation has become too preoccupied with the political bickerings, smugglers have been similarly busy sneaking in agricultural products in the country.
This comes as the Department of Agriculture (DA) accosted in Navotas City over 300 tons of smuggled vegetables during separate operations in two cold storage facilities which were earlier tipped off.
Recovered during the first raid were 132.75 tons of white onions (valued at P21.2 million), while the other operation seized 89.9 tons of smuggled carrots with an estimated cost of P13.48 million.
Aside from onions and carrots, the operation likewise yielded 360 kilos of tomatoes; 10 kilos of enoki mushrooms; and 92.25 tons of imported white onions loaded into a 40-foot container van.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel has ordered the Bureau of Plant Industry to suspend all issuances of import permits of these vegetables “in response to the abundant harvest of onions and carrots.”
We cannot allow illegal trade practices such as this to continue hurting the livelihood of our farmers. The order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is clear: Go after these smugglers without let up,” Tiu Laurel said in the statement. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
