THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it has seized frozen meat products from China valued at P2 million following raids conducted in Pasay City.
In a statement, the DA said it confiscated around 1,034 kilos of frozen meat products, including Peking ducks, black chickens, and doves in three establishments on July 21.
In a joint operation with Pasay City authorities, the National Meat Inspection Service, and the Philippine Coast Guard, the seizures included 700 kilos of smuggled frozen Peking ducks, black chickens, doves, and other meat products from a restaurant and mini-mart.
The team also found 334 kilos of imported frozen Peking ducks, rabbits, doves, yellow chickens, suckling pigs, and other meat in a restaurant.
The restaurant could present no legal documentation attesting that the meat products were properly imported.
The seized products are subject to immediate destruction “in order to prevent them from posing health hazards to the public,” the DA said.
“All-in-all, the apprehended smuggled products were valued at P2 million — a clear violation of the Republic Act No. 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016,” it said.
Under the law, large-scale agricultural smuggling occurs when at least P1 million worth of sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish, and cruciferous vegetables — either raw, processed, or preserved — is illegally brought into the country. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
