THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) under Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio is on its way to doubling the value of its seizures of contrabands and smuggled items by the end of the year after eclipsing the value of apprehended shipments last year by more than P30 billion with still more than 2 months to go before the year ended.
Data from the Intelligence Group headed by Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence (DCI) Juvymax Uy, showed that from January to October 20, 2024, they already seized smuggled goods and contrabands totaling P72.520 billion from 1,428 anti-smuggling operations.
In the current week from October 14 to October 20 alone, the BOC initiated 14 seizure proceedings covering P429 million worth of smuggled goods.
The running total of P72.520 billion is already an increase of more than P30 billion from the already historic high of more than P40 billion worth of smuggled goods the agency seized in 2023.
This boosted expectation that the continued and unrelenting campaign against smuggling by the tandem of Commissioner Rubio and DCI Uy can result to the agency passing the P80 billion mark in the value of smuggled goods confiscated by the end of 2024.
The data provided to Pinoy Exposé by Director Verne Enciso of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) showed that of the seized goods, counterfeit products, tobacco products and ‘other commodities’ (general merchandize) remain the focus of smuggling by syndicates, respectively.
The value of fake goods (counterfeit products) seized from the start of the year is valued at P33.68 billion; general merchandize at P23.8 billion; and, tobacco products, including vape/e-cigarettes at P7.7 billion.
The BOC also remains the leading government agency in the seizure of smuggled illegal drugs by initiating 121 seizures valued at P2.5 billion.
A tabulation by Pinoy Exposé, showed that with DCI Uy at the helms of the IG, the BOC immediately surpassed the record of apprehensions of smuggled goods established under the Duterte administration under Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, a bemedalled former Armed Forces Chief of Staff.
In the first half of 2022, the BOC, still under Guerrero, recorded total seizures valued at P8.37 billion (see link here). By the end of the year, the BOC said its total seizure for 2022 reached P24.3 billion (see link here).
Guerrero was replaced by Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, President Marcos’ first customs commissioner, in July 2022 while Uy replaced his fellow Philippine Army general, Rainier Ramiro, as deputy commissioner for intelligence in October 2022. Ruiz, consequently, was replaced by Rubio as customs chief last February 13, 2023.