Smuggled luxury cars worth P1.4B seized by BOC

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Friday disclosed that P1.4 billion worth of imported luxury vehicles were seized in several warehouses in Pasay City and Parañaque City.

The BOC said the confiscation includes Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maybach, and Maserati. 

They were confiscated by officials from the agency’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) on February 13.

According to a "24 Oras" report by Maki Pulido on Friday, at least 35 luxury cars were seized tfrom the Pasay showroom.

During the operation, BOC personnel found two male Chinese and one female Vietnamese who were unable to present their documents.

“Hinahanapan namin kahapon ng documentation, wala namang maipresent na mga visa, wala silang dalang papel eh. Hindi ko naman sila pwede ihold, hindi naman ako immigration,” said Major Joel Pinawin of the Intelligence Group Customs Intelligence And Investigation Service.

(We asked for documents from them but they couldn’t present a visa. I couldn’t hold them, since I’m not from the Immigration.)

He added that the vehicles may have been disposed of from POGO operations.

“Dahil nag aalisan na yung mga POGO, dini-dispose na nila yung mga cars nila. Allegedly lang yun ah,” he said.

(Because the POGOs have left, they are now allegedly disposing of their cars.)

The BOC is still conducting further investigation to identify the owners and sellers of the cars, as well as how they entered the country.

The BOC-CIIS had received information and photos of allegedly smuggled luxury vehicles being sold online. The officials immediately took appropriate action to verify the legitimacy of the information which they had received.

“This seizure signals a significant shift in the operational strategies of the BOC, indicating that we will soon witness a more aggressive and proactive approach in our enforcement efforts. It sends a message to all importers who think they’re already safe after their products have already exited the ports,” BOC Commissioner Bien Rubio said in a press release.

“When we received the tip about these vehicles early this month, we immediately verified the information and processed the issuance of the appropriate orders to conduct the operation,” said CIIS Director Verne Enciso.

He also shared that some other brands found were Rolls Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Range Rover, Bentley, Alphard, and Jeep Wrangler.

The total estimated value of these vehicles was more or less P1.4 billion, however, a final list will be released after the inventory.

Authorities have sealed the warehouse doors and assigned duty personnel to secure the premises.

The owners, lessees, lessors, occupants, representatives, or any parties responsible for the warehouses were given 15 days from the receipt of the Letters of Authority (LOA) to submit the necessary documents proving that duties and taxes were correctly paid.

If found without proper documents, they will face charges in violation of Sections 1400, 1401 in relation to Section 1113 of Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

--VAL, GMA Integrated News