Secured Discaya luxury vehicles now 14; BOC to search for more

A total of 14 luxury vehicles of the Discayas have been secured as of Wednesday morning as the Bureau of Customs continues to hunt for more following the issuance of a search warrant.

“Ngayon, ang nandoon na po sa ating kustodiya bale 14 na. [Bukod] sa 12 naming in-apply may nadatnan pa kami doon na dalawa,” BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita in an interview.

(Now, the number of luxury vehicles in our custody is 14. Apart from the 12 we applied for, we also found two more.)

“Pero hindi po tayo magtatapos diyan. Dahil sila na rin naman ang nagsabi na 28 yun. So at the minimum, 28 yung hahabulin naming. Pero again, hindi rin kami titigil doon dahil baka more than 28 yun,” he added.

(But we won’t stop there. Because they themselves said it was 28. So at the minimum, we will go after 28. But again, we won’t stop there because it might be more than 28.)

On Tuesday, the BOC implemented a search warrant on the 12 luxury vehicles of the Discayas for the probe into alleged irregularities in their importation and taxes.

Nepomuceno said the BOC pursued only 12 luxury vehicles in the information gathering so authorities can immediately work on the investigation.

“Actually, 12 'yung intelligence gathering point namin. Kaya't hindi na namin binuo 'yung impormasyon doon sa 40 dahil magtatagal dahil kailangan mag-apply kami agad at makapagsimula kami ng trabaho nitong Martes,” he said.

(Actually, we have 12 in our intelligence gathering point. That's why we didn't compile the information for the 40 because it would take a long time because we need to apply immediately and we can start work this Tuesday.)

The 12 secured luxury vehicles covered by the search warrant are the following:

• Toyota LC300 3.3 V6 ZX AT SUV 2024
• Maserati Levante Modena 2022
• Rolls Royce Cullinan
• Bentley Bentayga
• Mercedes Benz G-500
• Mercedes AMG G 63 AMG
• Toyota Tundra, 
• Toyota Sequoia
• Cadillac Escalade
• GMC Yukon Denali SUV
• two Lincoln Navigators

The camp of the Discayas said it was just coincidence that most of the luxury cars were not in the compound.

“Ginagamit ho kasi 'yung ibang sasakyan. So 'yung iba naman for maintenance, 'yung iba naman nailagay sa isang lugar kasi preemptive measure sila ngayon dahil nagbabaha dito sa Pasig,” said Atty. Cornelio Samaniego III, the family spokesperson. “Hindi po itinatago. Bakit itatago eh legal 'yung mga ‘yun.”

(The other cars are being used. Some are for maintenance, and others were placed in a different location as a preemptive measure because there is flooding here in Pasig…They are not being hidden. Why would we hide them when they are legal.)

The Discaya camp also said the vehicles were legally purchased through car dealers such as the Speed Seven Corporation, AutoArt Corporation, and Frebel Import and Export Corporation.

“Wala naman hong nagbabawal na bumili ka ng ganitong sasakyan na mamahalin. Wala po (Nothing prohibits you from buying this kind of expensive vehicle. None),” said Samaniego. —AOL, GMA Integrated News