‘34 smuggled cars now in Metro’

MANILA, Philippines - Thirty-four brand new luxury cars earlier reported smuggled into the country through ports in Mindanao have reportedly been brought to Metro Manila.

A source from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who requested anonymity said yesterday that an investigation is ongoing on the importation of the cars that arrived in the country between Dec. 31, 2013 and Feb. 8 this year.

The vehicles, which include Toyota Land Cruisers and Prados, a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW and a Range Rover sports car, reportedly came from Italy and the United Arab Emirates.

Reports said these were released in the port of Cagayan de Oro and its sub-ports, the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) in Misamis Oriental and in Ozamis City.

The source said the CDO port was used as transshipment point for some of the vehicles that were later brought to MCT and Ozamis sub-ports.

The source said the luxury cars, which have an estimated value of P150 million, were reportedly misdeclared as mere motor vehicles, when it should have been properly identified, according to a law on imported goods.

“There were also indications that the shipments were undervalued.”

The importation of the luxury cars reportedly violated several BOC memoranda. Among these were the discrepancies found in the bill of lading and in the import entry.

The source said since the bill of lading showed all 34 cars were discharged at the CDO port, its import entry should have been filed at that port.

However, authorities discovered that some of the import entries were filed at the two sub-ports.

On reports that the smuggled vehicles have been transported to Manila, the source said the BOC has taken steps to make sure that smugglers would not be able to sell or pass these vehicles to buyers.

“They have not issued Customs Payment for the vehicles so these would not be registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO). They have also informed the LTO about the incident.”

A Customs Payment is among several documents required by the LTO for vehicle registration.

BOC sets sights on private ports

Customs Commissioner John Sevilla yesterday said they would look into the operations of private ports, particularly those suspected of being used as gateways for smuggled goods.

Sevilla said the move is in line with the bureau’s effort to achieve its collection target.

He said all their districts have improved their performance, but since they still fail to meet their revenue targets, the bureau would look into other factors that could boost collection.

“We need to start working against smuggling activities that do not happen at the Customs, such as the private ports and the importations that are not being declared. These ports are invisible, they are seldom noticed,” Sevilla said.

The BOC cannot easily access private ports and has limited information on the goods that are shipped in and out of these facilities.

Sevilla said it is unlikely that they would be able to meet their collection target by the end of the year.

The BOC is mandated to collect P408 billion for this year, which is P68 billion more than their P340-billion target in 2013.

The bureau surpassed its monthly collections from January to June this year, compared to its performance during the same period last year.