THE Intelligence Group of the Bureau of Customs (IG-BOC) apprehended a shipment of counterfeit apparels and other undeclared items from Vietnam worth more than P18 million at the Port of Manila.
Deputy commissioner for intelligence, retired Army general, Ranier Ramiro, said the apprehension was made last September 24, 2020, after the ‘Port Control Office,’ one of the units under his office, received derogatory information on the shipment consigned to ‘Crimsonguard Trading.’
A 100-percent physical examination of the cargo resulted to the discovery whitening herbal powder, fake Lacoste wearing apparel, Vans and Converse branded shoes and undeclared assorted dried tea.
As a result of the examination, POM district collector, Michael Angelo Vargas, immediately issued an “WSD” (warrant of seizure and detention) against the shipment.
A day earlier, in Malabon City, the ‘Quick Reaction Team (QRT) of the bureau’s Enforcement Security Service (ESS), announced the discovery and recovery of P6.5 million worth of suspected smuggled cigarettes at a warehouse in Malabon City.
Armed with a Letter of Authority (LOA) signed by Commissioner Rey Leonardo B Guerrero, the operating team, composed of members of ESS-QRT and from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), raided the warehouse in Bgy. Tugatog where the cigarettes, of various brands and consisting of 196 master cases, were found.
The raid, the BOC stressed, was witnessed by local village officials.
The ESS said the people behind the warehouse and the illicit products are liable for the violation of Section 1400 of R.A. 10863 also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act as well the provisions of R.A. 8424 also known as the National Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines on the falsification of tax stamps.