A joint team of the Sugar Regulatory Administration and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group confiscated 281 bags of smuggled Thai sugar in Cebu City yesterday, SRA Administrator Rafael Coscolluela said.

He said the sugar had mostly been found in their original Thai sacks in several retail outlets in Tabuan and Carbon, Cebu City.

Refined sugar currently sells at P1,100 per 50 kilobag wholesale and P36 per kilo retail, he said. The port of entry of the smuggled sugar is most likely the Cebu port, he said.

Cocolluela said that the SRA-PASG was acting on intelligence reports of smuggled sugar reportedly being sold at retail outlets in Cebu and key cities of Mindanao.

Among the key cities in Mindanao where anti-smuggling operations are underway are Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga, he said.

So far, the SRA has seized 45,000 bags of smuggled sugar worth about P54 million this crop year, he said.

Negros Occidental sugar leaders have stressed the need to seize cheap imported smuggled sugar entering the country as this is hurting the domestic sugar industry.

The gains of the sugar anti-smuggling drive have been reflected in the increased withdrawals of domestic sugar in the last four weeks and in slightly increased or steady prices, Coscolluela said.*CPG

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