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Customs destroys misdeclared Ferrari, fake cigarettes
The Bureau of Customs on Tuesday destroyed a misdeclared luxury car, more than 1,000 master cases of fake cigarettes and 12 cigarette-making machines at the bureau’s compound in Port Area, Manila.
Undersecretary Jesus Melchor V. Quitain, OIC, Office of the Special Assistant to the President, witnessed the destruction of the seized items.
A misdeclared Ferrari was crushed by a bulldozer.
“It was declared as auto parts,” Customs Assistant Commissioner Jet Maronilla told GMA News Online.
The Ferrari, initially declared as used auto spare parts, arrived at the Port of Manila on May 13.
“It was only upon physical examination that our customs examiner found out that the shipment actually contained a Ferrari with both doors and the hub dismantled from the main body,” BOC said in a separate statement.
The Ferrari was declared abandoned and forfeited in line with Section 1129 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
A Ferrari was crushed by a bulldozer, according to a separate report by Isa Avendaño-Umali on Dobol B sa News TV.
Nawasak na ng Bureau of @CustomsPH ang 'misdeclared' na Ferrari. | via @Isa_Umali pic.twitter.com/X6PcSETUFE
— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) July 23, 2019
Customs Assistant Commissioner Jet Maronilla told GMA News Online the Ferrari was misdeclared as auto parts. “It was declared as auto parts.”
Some parts of the car were missing.
Customs speculated that the other parts to complete the Ferrari would be transported in different shipments, according another report by Jun Veneracion on GMA News’ Balitanghali on Tuesday.
Destroying smuggled cars could compel importers to make accurate declarations and pay duties, Maronilla said.
More than a thousand boxes of fake cigarettes which are imitations of some popular tobacco brands and 12 imported cigarette-making machines were also destroyed.
In February, elements of BOC-Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) seized the items from a warehouse in Barangay Bagacay, Tacloban City since there was no proof of payment of duties and taxes.
“Warrants of Seizure and Detention were issued against the said machines which were eventually forfeited under Sections 1401 and 1113 of the CMTA,” the bureau said.
“While several master cases of counterfeit cigarettes were seized pursuant to the said provisions of the CMTA and RA 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines,” it added.
All the items were valued at P157 million, according to the BOC.
“The seizure and destruction of the said goods serve as a warning to smugglers and manufacturers of fake cigarettes,” BOC said.
Destroying the illegal items is in line with Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez’s directive for the bureau to closely monitor the making and importation of illegal cigarettes. —VDS, GMA News
