AUTHORITIES seized 11.5 metric tons of undocumented imported meat worth P5.19 million from two stores in Pasay City, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported Monday.
The Sept. 22 to 23 operation along C.A. Lucban Street followed surveillance by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and verification by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
The stores, LCCI Food Condiments Trading and Sitphin Sari-Sari Store, were neither accredited by NMIS nor registered with the local government as meat cold-storage warehouses or depots.
Two Chinese nationals, Wu Dun Han and Cai Huarong, were arrested and brought to the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings over alleged violations of the Meat Inspection Code, which prohibits the sale, transport or distribution of uninspected meat.
The seized products included about 3.2 metric tons of pork, 2.5 MT each of Peking duck and chicken, and 1.6 MT of assorted meat. Authorities also confiscated goose necks, lamb, beef, pigeon, and frog meat.
The products came from China and showed signs of expiration and decomposition, the DA said.
They were transferred to Supima Cold Storage, an NMIS-accredited facility in Meycauayan, where they remain secured pending a court order on their disposition. Products found unfit for human consumption will be disposed of under applicable rules.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said sustained enforcement was necessary to protect consumers.
“We really have to continuously catch these violators. It’s really important that the food markets are safe,” he said at a media briefing.
The DA cautioned that a single operation did not establish that illegal meat trading was widespread, but demonstrated the importance of monitoring and coordination among agencies.
From January to September, NMIS confiscated about 227 MT of “hot meat” nationwide. The term refers to meat from animals slaughtered in unregistered or unaccredited facilities without the required government health inspections.
During the period, the agency conducted 2,269 monitoring and surveillance activities and 138 strike operations, and issued 781 notices of violation.
Joint enforcement by NMIS, the NBI’s National Capital Region office, and the DA’s Inspectorate and Enforcement unit resulted in the seizure of about 31.6 MT of hot meat from June to September. Chynna Grace Ong