A “player” at the Bureau of Customs was among the early visitors of new Bureau of Customs Director for Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) George Aliño.

Reliable sources said the visitor, ‘Edwin the Saint,’ was seen being ushered in an office directly facing that of Aliño’s on Friday “for coffee” while waiting  for a talk with the new chief of the customs police, three days after Aliño reported for work.

On his way in, Edwin the Saint was seen by the sources as being greeted by Col. Butch Tibayan, a veteran customs police officer and the designated chief of staff of Aliño.

A customs “player” is a euphemism for “smuggler,” or those cheating the government of its full taxes and duties.

Under current practices, this is mostly being done thru ‘technical smuggling,’ mainly by way of misdeclaration, undervaluation or both.

Misdeclaration refers to declaring the shipment other than what is described in the shipping manifest to avail of a lower rate of duty while undervaluation refers to the faking of the commercial invoice to reflect a much lower purchase price.

Aliño had previously declined to be interviewed by this paper, claiming he is “very busy” at the moment being new on the job.

He took his oath of office only last November 15 before Department of Finance Sec. Cesar Purisima, replacing another retired police general on the job, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Director Nestorio Gualberto.

The ESS is mainly responsible for the enforcement of customs laws including the apprehension of suspected smugglers and their shipments.

Sources however noted that if this was so, Aliño can definitely find the time to meet with players who, apparently, have more pressing matters to discuss with him.

Edwin the Saint has long been a mainstay at the waterfront, in the league of ‘Rupert Gagoba,’ ‘Manny the Saint’ the ‘Teves Brothers,’ ‘Bobot,’ ‘Dennis Lee’ and the so-called ‘Ochoa Group’.