Over 466K Sacks of Sugar Found During CDO Inspection — BOC

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Northern Mindanao conducted a surprise inspection on multiple warehouses in Cagayan de Oro and discovered a total of 466,142 sacks of raw sugar on Tuesday, Aug. 23. 

According to a report from the Philippine News Agency yesterday, BOC agents visited three warehouses of Crystal Sugar Milling at North Poblacion where they found a stockpile of raw sugar allegedly hoarded by the owners. The operation was carried out with the assistance of a representative from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and security units from the local military and police based in Maramag, Bukidnon province.

As per the initial investigation led by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, there were approximately 264,000 bags of sugar sold to traders but they have not yet been pulled out of the warehouse.

The warehouse manager of Crystal Sugar Milling, identified as Javier Sagarbarria, told the bureau that the company is able to produce two million bags of sugar annually. However, the person who holds the official documents "was not around" when authorities requested for papers to verify if the raw sugar they discovered was authorized.

In response to the recent "artificial" sugar shortage, the BOC, SRA, and the Department of Agriculture (DA) joined forces to conduct simultaneous inspections of sugar warehouses in various areas, including Deparo, Caloocan City; Balut in Tondo and San Nicolas in Manila; Rosales, Pangasinan; San Fernando, Pampanga; Ibaan, Batangas; and Davao.