The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have seized over P2 billion worth of counterfeit goods held in several storage units in Binondo, Manila.
Operatives of BOC’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service and Intellectual Property Rights Division and agents from the AFP’s Joint Task Force National Capital Region-Central Luzon conducted the seizure in a July 16 raid after the issuance of a letter of authority signed by Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero.
The operation stemmed from information and complaint from intellectual property specialist firm Baranda & Associates that various imported counterfeit products were stored inside the storage units.
Seized were fake items bearing different brands like Nike, Emporio Armani, Hello Kitty, Swissgear, Iron Man, Louis Vuitton, Anello, Kylie Makeup, Active White, Clinique, MAC makeup, Dior, Champion, Fila, Adidas, Supreme, Kate Spade, Long Champ, Air Jordan, Columbia, HP, Coach, YSL, Fendi, Hermes, Socks Iconic, Giordano, Abercrombie & Casio, Rolex, Guess, Alba, Edifice, Batman, Levi’s, Herschel, Ben10, Bulgari, Hugo, Gucci, The North Face, SpongeBob, Pikachu, Pan Patrol, Super Mario, TRESemme, Golden State, Prada, Fred Perry, Lakers, Dora, Pokemon, Ponds, Revlon, and many more.
The items were seized for violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, and Section 118 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
“The Bureau of Customs is relentless in its drive against smuggling of fake products in order to protect legitimate businesses that are diligent in paying duties and taxes that [are] due the government,” BOC Intelligence Group deputy commissioner Raniel T. Ramiro said in a statement.
