00:00Last night, Customs closed the Shyamna Warehouse in Bulacan
00:05where there are bags of imported rice but smuggled.
00:10Katrina Son has a report.
00:15More than half a billion pesos.
00:18That's the value of thousands of bags of imported rice
00:21that were received by the Bureau of Customs
00:24in the Shyamna Inspection Warehouse last night in Bukaway, Bulacan.
00:28Most of the rice came from Thailand, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
00:34Customs denied that they were selling smuggled rice.
00:39They are also investigating if they are mixing imported and local rice
00:44and selling it for a high price.
00:46Our farmers are against this.
00:49We have conducted surveillance.
00:51Under the directive of our President,
00:53Anti-Smuggling Operations Against Agricultural Smuggling was established
00:57under the new Economic Sabotage Act.
01:01No owner of the warehouses came forward.
01:04What was found were only stalls or shelves.
01:08Customs asked for a permit with a proof of payment of duties and taxes
01:13from the Department of Agriculture.
01:16But they were not shown, so the warehouses were closed.
01:20It should be on hand.
01:22It should be shown immediately.
01:24Our visitors are just reasoning that the warehouses are empty.
01:30They have not been shown anything.
01:32That is why they are in a cell.
01:34The owners of the rice warehouses here in Bukaway, Bulacan
01:38were given 15 days for inspection
01:41in order to submit the necessary documents
01:44to prove that their rice was not smuggled.
01:48If they were not able to submit it,
01:50their rice warehouses would be completely closed.
01:55Katrina Son reporting for GMA Integrated News.
02:20.
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