Bacolod City (PNA) – The Region 6 office of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) issued a hold departure order against the vessel “MV Trai Thien 66” from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam after it was suspected to have transported illegal drugs together with the alleged imported rice allocation supposedly of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental.

The vessel, skippered by Bul Van Chin, arrived here last Friday.
The BoC, in issuing the hold departure order Thursday to the Vietnamese vessel which has a registered shipping agent identified as certain Romeo Conlu Jr. has cited violation of the Tariff and Customs Code.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Delicana of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), in an interview, said that the BoC in coordination with them, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Philippine National Police tried to check on the cargo of the Vietnamese vessel on the suspicion that there were some illegal substances with the NFA rice.

He said they found out that there were indeed some dubious sacks containing white crystalline substance believed to be N-methlyephedrine, which is a precursor for the manufacture of metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

Of the total 77,000 sacks of NFA imported rice, the PDEA was able to check 51 sacks.
Delicana said the substances they were able to get were sent to their Manila laboratory for study. The result could be released on Thursday.

He further said that on board the Vietnamese vessel anchored at the Bredco Port in this city are 20 crew members who are under investigation.

There are right now 20 PDEA agents waiting on standby for any legal action also at the port vicinity, Delicana said.

The BoC coordinated with the PDEA, and other law enforcers after a Customs employee noticed that the other sacks being unloaded from the Vietnamese vessel when carried by a porter “moved” differently compared to those bags containing rice.