MANILA - Customs agents seized more than 150kg of fruits and packed food that five Singaporeans and a Chinese national had planned on bringing with them to the Philippines on a planned casino romp.
A report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer said 96kg of grapes and passion fruit, and more than 65kg of siew mai, char siew pau, rice with meat toppings and other food placed inside styrofoam boxes were confiscated.
Bureau of Animal Industry veterinary inspector Nilo Cristal told the Inquirer the Singaporeans and Chinese national arrived on a private plane in Manila on Monday evening (Oct 14).
They were planning to play at a casino for a few days. But they could not produce an import permit for the amount of food they wanted to bring in, he said.
It was not explained why they would need so much food for their trip.
The seized fruits and food items had been transferred to a warehouse at the airport in Manila.
A document seen by The Straits Times identified the Singaporeans as Wong Yew Choy, Chua Hoe Beng, Koh Siew Hak, Low Chen Yang Marcus and Dexmond Koh Wei Shun, all men, aged 28 to 57.
The Chinese national who was with them was a woman named Yuan Fengxia, 33.
All six flew in from Singapore on a Gulfstream G450 owned by Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, which operates the Solaire Resort and Casino, one of the biggest integrated resorts in Manila.
They were not charged nor held at the airport.
