Rappler's latest stories on smuggling
BOC seizes fake PPE, medical supplies smuggled from China
P244 million worth of counterfeit protective wear, medical equipment, and fake medicine claiming to cure the coronavirus manage to get to the Philippines
P150 million worth of car parts smuggled from China seized
The car parts which came from China, are repacked and mislabeled as 'made in Japan'
Man wanted in Britain over 39 deaths 'organized' trafficking
Ronan Hughes faces extradition to Britain over a human smuggling case that saw 39 Vietnamese migrants discovered dead in a truck
NAIA Customs intercepts P41M worth of shabu from Filipina passenger
The Bureau of Customs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport says it intercepted two similar shipments from Cambodia last October
P100M worth of smuggled gadgets seized in Pampanga
The smuggled gadgets include 6,900 units of Vivo, Huawei, and Xiaomi phones and tablets
Task force seizes 3 used sports cars being smuggled from Clark Freeport
Task Force Aguila confiscates two other old vehicles earlier – a Ford F-150 XLT pick-up truck and a 1970 model Nissan Datsun car – allegedly brought to Angeles City and City of San Fernando from Clark Freeport Zone for restoration
NAIA Customs confiscates guns, ammo in Pasay warehouse
Customs finds the firearms cache abandoned inside the DHL warehouse
Customs seizes P1.4M worth of marijuana hidden in snack packs
The Kush marijuana is hidden in tortilla chips packaging
DOJ summons Jacky Co over P1.8-B shabu shipment
The Department of Justice has directed suspected Chinese drug lord Jacky Co and 16 others to respond to the criminal complaint filed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
Customs seizes P60M worth of smuggled sugar, firecrackers in Subic port
Customs officials say the 34 containers were misdeclared to contain floor mats and plastic covering
LOOK: Live turtles duct-taped, smuggled into Philippines
(UPDATED) The turtles are found in abandoned suitcases at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Man smuggles month-old leopard cub on plane to India
Officials says they grew suspicious after hearing sounds coming from the bag, and stopped the passenger as he tried to rush out of the terminal in the capital city of southern Tamil Nadu state
Duterte still trusts Lapeña despite NBI graft complaints
President Rodrigo Duterte's basis for continuing to trust TESDA chief Isidro Lapeña? 'Because he (Duterte) knows him personally. He has worked with him and he trusts him,' says Malacañang.
Canadian risks harsher sentence at China drug retrial
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, originally sentenced to 15 years in prison and a 150,000 yuan ($22,000) forfeiture, could now potentially face the death penalty under China's zero-tolerance drug laws
Whistleblower Mangaoang returns as Customs X-ray chief
(UPDATED) Lourdes Mangaoang is back in the X-ray department of the Bureau of Customs
LOOK: Cebu port officials discover luxury vehicles in car part shipment
Customs officials find a Mercedes Benz, an Alfa Romeo, a Porsche 911, and a Range Rover Evoque in a shipment declared as containing only one piece of car body
P1M worth of high-end ammunition smuggled into PH before Christmas
In a balikbayan box, smugglers mix the high-end ammunition with 3 used shirts, 3 pieces of bottled water, and one bottle of hot sauce
Biazon on shabu smuggling: 'Is PDEA clean?'
Lawmakers raise the possibility that more Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officials may be implicated in drug smuggling
House panel questions credibility of Customs X-ray inspector
Lawmakers are dissatisfied with the way Bureau of Customs X-ray inspector John Mar Morales rescanned images of magnetic lifters
Gordon warns BOC’s Guerrero: Beware of ‘treacherous’ customs
The senator shows newly-appointed Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero a photo of PDEA officials partying with an ex-cop supposedly involved in billion-peso shabu shipments
Gordon cites 4 witnesses in contempt over absence at shabu probe
Senator Richard Gordon says the witnesses, including dismissed cop Eduardo Acierto and sacked PDEA official Ismael Fajardo, face arrest if they skip the next Senate hearing
PCG seizes ship loaded with alleged smuggled rice
The vessel, named MV Hulk, is found in Sulu carrying more or less 50,000 bags of rice
Barbers clears Lapeña in shabu smuggling
The chairperson of the House committee on dangerous drugs says command responsibility does not apply to former customs chief Isidro Lapeña either
DOJ indicts Davidson Bangayan over rice cartel
The justice department also indicts the trader for unlawful use of pseudonym ‘David Tan’
Duterte orders customs intel officer Jimmy Guban arrested
President Rodrigo Duterte claims Guban faked identification cards to allow the smuggling of shabu
Lapeña cries foul as PDEA boosts theory P6.8-B shabu slipped past Customs
PDEA chief Aaron Aquino offers analysis of 'oversupply' and a match test, but Customs chief Isidro Lapeña says they are imprudent speculations
Zamboanga Customs officials suspended over missing smuggled rice
A 'visibly upset' President Rodrigo Duterte orders an investigation into 23,015 sacks of smuggled rice that had gone missing
PNP, PDEA, BOC officers implicated in P6.8-B shabu probe
The probe points to possible collusion among officers from the frontline anti-drug agencies of Duterte's war on drugs
PDEA No. 2 official sacked amid missing P6.8-B shabu controversy
Deputy Director General for Administration Ismael Fajardo is the highest-ranking government official implicated in the drug smuggling case
House to detain Customs intel officer for contempt
Resigned Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban has been cited in contempt by the House committee on dangerous drugs
'Fall guy' in alleged shabu shipment received P2,000 from Customs officer
Joel Maritana recants his earlier testimony where he said he asked SMYD Trading to be a consignee-for-hire to receive the alleged shabu-packed magnetic lifters shipment
Shabu probe: Customs officer got 'commission' for magnetic lifter shipment
(UPDATED) Customs intel officer Jimmy Guban admits receiving at least P10,000 in looking for the consignee-for-hire which received the magnetic lifters allegedly packed with one ton of shabu
House resumes probe into missing P6.8-B shabu shipment
What is expected to happen in the continuation of the House probe into the alleged missing P6.8-billion shabu shipment?
Senate leaves nagging questions for House in P6.8-B shabu probe
(UPDATED) More questions were uncovered by the Senate blue ribbon committee in the P6.8-billion shabu probe. The House committee on dangerous drugs and committee on good government now faces the pressure to answer them.
Former X-ray chief: BOC did not follow SOP in scanning magnetic lifters
The former X-ray chief of the Bureau of Customs says the current operators did not follow the SOP for X-rays that would have led to the physical examination of the magnetic lifters
Gordon on magnetic lifters: 'May laman!'
Senator Richard Gordon is inclined to believe that the magnetic lifters were packed with drugs, as claimed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
Senate to detain importer for lying in P6.8-B smuggled shabu hearing
Senator Richard Gordon cited in contempt Marina Signapan, owner of SMYD Trading, refusing to believe her claim that she was merely paid to be the consignee of the illegal drugs shipment
Customs alerted on Korean scrap truck smugglers at Davao port
The Department of Trade and Industry and a Davao-based truck dealer say the trucks were smuggled from Korea without the proper registration
Duterte won't fire Piñol, NFA's Aquino over rice crisis
'Maybe the laws are weak or are unenforceable. All we have to do is to improve on those laws, not necessarily fire people,' says President Rodrigo Duterte
Patterns emerge in 2017, 2018 shabu probes
(UPDATED) The biggest difference between the 2018 and 2017 investigations? The existence of drugs has not been established in the 2018 shipment.
Empty or shabu-packed? X-ray scans of magnetic lifters revealed
The House committee on dangerous drugs publishes X-ray scans taken by the Bureau of Customs
Newsbreak Chats: Rice crisis, Arroyo as House Speaker, other top stories in August 2018
Join us as we make sense of these stories: the ongoing rice crisis, the tussle between Customs and PDEA, changes in the House, backdoor abortion in the Philippines
PDEA chief insists magnetic lifters in Cavite contained shabu
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino tags as 'unfair' criticisms being hurled at him that he was wrong in announcing the magnetic lifters contained illegal drugs
Finding P6.8-B shabu already 'wishful thinking'
'I think that would be wishful thinking already, from all the indiciations that we have,' says Representative Romeo Acop
Compelled by House panel, PDEA chief attends shabu shipment probe
(UPDATED) Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino arrives at the House hearing on the same day his leave of absence from the agency ended
Piñol wants to legalize smuggled rice in Zamboanga-Basilan area
The agriculture secretary even envisions a 'trading center' for smuggled rice in the Zamboanga-Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi region, saying that's the practice there anyway
Philippine Coast Guard seizes smuggled rice in Basilan
A total of 22,000 bags of smuggled rice are found onboard two vessels
Customs files charges vs shabu, smuggled sugar importers
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña says the BOC will file 'more criminal charges against erring importers and brokers in the coming weeks'
Taiwan protests claim it was source of P6.8-billion shabu
'We solemnly condemn the irresponsible news reports,' says Taiwan
Customs stops more magnetic lifters, says none carry shabu
After performing two x-ray scans and scrutiny from sniffer dogs, the Bureau of Customs concludes the lifters are empty of illegal drugs
