The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized an estimated P3 million worth of smuggled car and motorcycles at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) after discovering the importer misdeclared the shipment as household goods and personal effects.
Gerardo Gambala, head of the BOC Command Center, issued an alert order on the shipment consigned to Efrell B. Lopez.
Physical examination showed the cargo, declared as holding 170 packages of household goods and personal effects, actually contained used vehicles. These are a Mitsubishi-3000 GT car and three motorcycles—a Honda CB 900, a Yamaha, and a Kawasaki 550.
Enforcement Group Deputy Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the shipment was filed under informal entry by the suspect.
The X-Ray Inspection Project (XIP) team later found the motor vehicles to have been undeclared, which constitutes “a prima facie evidence of smuggling.”
Nepomuceno said the motor vehicles lacked an import permit from the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Import Service.
Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon disclosed that the vehicles arrived at the MICP on April 28 from Oakland, California on board Cosco Thailand V-50. The shipment was seized on May 19.
Faeldon said the BOC will issue a warrant of seizure and detention for the shipment.
As for the consignee, he will be charged with violating the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) in relation to Executive Order No. 156, which prohibits the importation of used motor vehicles.
“I have sent a lot of warnings to all unscrupulous traders in our country to stop [their illegal activities] and obey the law but they won’t listen,” Faeldon said.
“If we must impose stricter rules to protect our country’s border, then we will do so,” he added.
Faeldon said the vehicles will remain in the custody of the BOC pending further investigation.
Fake phones seized
Meanwhile, the BOC also seized five cartons of 400 disassembled units of Nokia 3310 phones and chargers valued at P880,000 after two passengers failed to show import documents for them, including a permit from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
Stopped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 on May 5 were Lao Alikhan Unos and Hadji Unis Saaduddin Lao from Guangzhou, China.
“We physically examined the luggage and soon found the contraband goods,” BOC X-Ray Inspection Unit head Jaybee Raul Cometa said.
Enforcement Group Deputy Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno recommended the issuance of a warrant of seizure and detention for the goods for violation of an NTC circular and the CMTA.
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