Illegal pesticides smuggled in pickled vegetables

Hundreds of packets of illegal pesticides from China were smuggled into the CNMI, concealed inside a 5-gallon plastic container and topped by a 3-inch layer of pickled vegetables, but a vigilant 23-year-old Workforce Investment Agency trainee with the Division of Customs Services discovered the deed. As of yesterday, it’s unknown whether the Office of the Attorney General or another agency would pursue a criminal case against the importer.

Customs also called in other local and federal agencies due to the nature of the smuggling and the type of smuggled items, which could be used for purposes other than to terminate pests.

“This is a significant health hazard to the CNMI,” Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson said in a news briefing at the Customs seaport office yesterday afternoon. Customs is one of the divisions under Finance.

Division of Customs Services seaport manager Greg Sablan, left, and Workforce Investment Agency trainee/customs inspector Don F. Teregeyo, right, show yesterday samples of smuggled powdered pesticides from China that were concealed in a 5-gallon container purportedly full of pickled vegetables. (Haidee V. Eugenio)

Larson commended the personnel that intercepted the illegal powdered pesticides and other undeclared items.

Illegal pesticides—which have non-English labels and are unauthorized to be imported to the CNMI—were not the only ones discovered. A total of 120 bottles of hard liquor that were declared only as cooking wine, which would have been assessed a lower tax, were also found, said Customs seaport manager Greg Sablan.

Customs director Joe Mafnas identified the importer as Yin Jia Corp.

As a result of these interceptions, Mafnas said that Customs would be implementing a policy wherein importers will be required to not only give a business name but a physical address, a business license, and business gross revenue tax filings, among other things, to determine whether the importer is in business rather than just a front for illegal activities.

In this particular case, Mafnas said that Yin Jia Corp.’s representative, identified as Dong Gui Li, operates Green Consume stores on Middle Road and As Lito.

Mafnas questioned why the importer had to use another business name rather than Green Consume, which is a known store on island.
Also at the news briefing was Division of Quarantine inspector Mark Pangelinan.

‘Odd’

Customs inspector Don F. Teregeyo, 23, was assigned to inspect a 20-ft.container from China at the seaport on April 30, and he was the one who discovered the smuggled items, along with customs inspector Lt. Ray Renguul.

Teregeyo is a WIA intern with Customs for only a few months, and this is his second interception of illegal items in just a few weeks’ span; the first one was the discovery of some 40 pieces of counterfeit Burberry, Coach, and Lacoste women’s wallets and purses.

In an interview at the customs seaport, Teregeyo said he found it “odd” that an importer would bring in a plastic container along with other merchandise in a 20-ft. container. Teregeyo was among the 11 that recently completed the second cycle of basic customs training.

He said the moment he opened the 5-gallon container, a pungent odor came out of it. He saw what he thought was pickled leafy vegetables.

Teregeyo said the importer’s representative, identified by the Customs director as Dong Gui Li, told him it was just a container of pickled vegetable.

“She told us it’s food and to prove to us, she ate some of it,” Teregeyo told Saipan Tribune. But he said he wasn’t convinced so he reached into the pickled vegetables with his gloved hands and pulled packets or sachets with non-English labels. The initial assessment was that they were illegal pesticides.

Customs and Quarantine also called in the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, and the latter confirmed they were pesticides that are not supposed to enter the CNMI.

As to any criminal case, Customs said this is beyond the division’s jurisdiction. It’s not known whether the CNMI government—or at least the Office of the Attorney General or BECQ—would pursue criminal charges against the importer.

Larson said the manner in which the pesticides were smuggled put the health and safety of inspectors at risk. Moreover, she said importers that try to smuggle items into the CNMI are hurting the economy.

“We’re taking this seriously,” she said, adding that Customs continues to assess the 20-ft container.

Mafnas said it has come to Customs’ attention that illegal pesticides are a “hot item” on the island, especially among farmers.

He said Customs earlier intercepted a small bottle of pesticide worth $75.

Hard liquor

Customs’ Sablan said they also found in the 20-ft container 10 cases of hard liquor that were initially declared as cooking wine. They later found out that they contained 55 percent alcohol, and are considered hard liquor that would make them eligible for a higher tax rate.

Each case contains 10 bottles of hard liquor.

Mafnas said Customs imposed a penalty of $3,000 on the importer, Yin Jia Corp. Customs also has yet to assess the proper tax for the hard liquor.