BOC's Bulacan raid yields P5.5B worth of illicit cigarettes, counterfeits

The Bureau of Customs-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (BOC-CIIS) on Saturday said it conducted an operation at a warehouse in Bulacan and uncovered P5.5 billion worth of illegally imported cigarettes and counterfeit items.

In a news release, the BOC-CIIS said the raid, conducted on August 30, was done following the issuance of a Letter of Authority (LOA) by Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio.

The LOA was issued after the BOC-CIIS received derogatory information that the subject warehouse in Meycauayan, Bulacan was storing imported cigarettes and IPR- (intellectual property rights) infringing goods, according to BOC-CIIS Director Verne Enciso.

“When the team got there to serve the LOA, they found a volume of stored imported cigarettes amounting to P500 million and P5 billion worth of IPR-infringing items,” said Enciso.

The bureau said that among the counterfeit items discovered in the warehouse were gadgets, devices, and garments.

For his part, CIIS-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP) chief Alvin Enciso emphasized the importance of finding the P5.5 billion worth of fake goods.

“We do not want to be a haven for counterfeit items. That is not the kind of message we want to send potential investors and even tourists. More so, that is not what the Marcos administration wants the country’s reputation to be,” he said.

After the operation, the BOC-CIIS said its agents temporarily secured the entrance and exit gates of the warehouses with padlocks and seals.

The agency added that the warehouse owners and operators were given 15 days from the service of the LOA to submit documents to show that the subject imported goods were legitimately imported and that correct duties and taxes were duly paid pursuant to Section 224 of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

“If they fail to present the proper documents, they can face charges for violating Section 117 (regulated importation and exportation) and Section 1400 (misdeclaration in goods declaration) in relation to Section 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of the CMTA,” it said.

“They will also face charges in accordance with Republic Act 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, Republic Act 10963, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN Law), and the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) Board Resolution No. 079-2005 (amended rules and regulations governing the exportation and importation of leaf tobacco and tobacco products),” it added. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA Integrated News