Agents of the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently raided several warehouses in Marilao, Bulacan, and seized counterfeit products valued at P500 million.
BOC Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) director Neil Anthony Estrella said the raids on 3M Compound along Ilang-Ilang Street in Sta. Rosa II were covered by mission orders signed by Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.
The raids yielded several tons of used, or ukay-ukay, clothing. Among the counterfeit commodities found in the warehouses were boxes of shoes with labels like Nike, Converse, Sanuk, Adidas; bags branded Under Armour and Kipling; kids’ bags with cartoon characters; caricature images of NBA stars and legends; steel bars; rolls of textiles; and Nestle’s Magic Sarap wrapper.
Republic Act No. 4653 prohibits the commercial importation of textiles commonly known as used clothing and rags.
Joel Pinawin, an intelligence officer and head of the raiding team, said the counterfeit items also violated R.A. No. 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
Estrella said the owner of the warehouses will be invited to the BOC for questioning and to present import documents.
