THE Bureau of Customs last week seized known brands of luxury items worth P6.5 million from France at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (BOC-NAIA) misdeclared as “assorted clothes and shampoo.”
NAIA district collector, Atty. Carmelita ‘Mimel’ Talusan, in a report to Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero said the shipment consist of well-known brands like ‘Prada,’ Gucci,’ ‘Hermes,’ ‘Louis Vitton,’ ‘Chanel,’ ‘Valentino’ and ‘Christian Dior,’ were seized at the Paircargo Warehouse, Pasay City, last Friday, September 18, 2020, consigned to a certain ‘Reynaldo Tan.’
The goods, Talusan added, were contained in several “balikbayan” boxes from Maison-Alfort, France.
The 100 percent physical examination of the shipment ordered by Talusan confirmed Customs’ suspicion after it was discovered to actually contain 157 pieces of luxury bags, shoes, sandals, shirts and accessories in commercial quantity
“The misdeclaration is an apparent attempt to evade the payment of correct duties and taxes through the use of falsified and spurious documents and an effort to abuse the tax-free privilege policy on balikbayan boxes,” Talusan said.
Aside from the immediate confiscation of the shipment, Talusan said details of the incident would be turned over to the bureau’s ‘Action Team Against Smugglers’ (BATAS) for the filing of appropriate charges against Tan and others involved in the smuggling attempt.
Two days earlier, last September 16, 2020, Manila International Container Port (MICP) district collector, Romeo Allan Rosales, informed Guerrero of the successful “rendering” (destruction) of P120 million worth of smuggled cigarettes at a rendering facility in Pampanga.
The condemned cigarettes were part of the P220 million worth of apprehensions at the MICP for the year of which the biggest was the seizure of 6,249 master cases of undeclared cigarettes last July 24, 2020 valued at P187 million.
Two weeks ago, the BOC also destroyed smuggled cigarettes worth more than P658 million.
On the same day at the Port of Subic, district collector, Atty. Marites Martin, announced its third major apprehension of smuggled cigarettes, this time worth more than P60 million.
Martin said the 2X40 shipment from China, arrived last September 5 and September 6, consigned to ‘BWFIC Trading’ and misdeclared as “steel wire mesh.”
For its part, the Port of Clark, under Coll. Ruby Alameda, announced the interception of illegal drugs worth at least P1.1 million and found hidden in a shipment of ‘coffee bag beans.’
Alameda said on closer inspection, the shipment was found to contain 3 plastic bags of ‘Kush Marijuana’ from California.
Alameda added the seized drugs was turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) last Friday. She further noted that it was the 19TH successful interdiction of illegal drugs by the port since the start of the year.
At the Port of Davao, district collector and former bureau spokesman, Atty. Erastus Sandino ‘Dino’ Austria, led the simple ceremony for the opening the ‘Customer Care Center.’
The CCC is a one-stop-shop for all types of Customs transactions featuring services such as centralized document receiving and releasing, gate pass issuances, filing of goods declaration and other Customs services.
It also features real-time viewing of the customers’ transactions thru the Customer Care Portal System (CCPS) – an online ticketing system where stakeholders can electronically submit their queries/concerns, feedbacks and scanned documents needed to process their goods declaration.
The Davao CCC is the eight CCC to be opened after the Port of Manila, Legaspi, Surigao, Batangas, Subic, Clark and Zamboanga.
Under Comm. Guerrero, the BOC hopes to put up a CCC in all its 17 collection districts by the end of the year.