US national held for P2-M luggage
By Ariel Fernandez
A departing American national was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 for carrying more than P2 million prior to boarding a China airline going to Taipei.
The US citizen was identified as Steven Mychal De La Garza, 58 years old.
Based on the report of Customs Officer Lorenzo Supremo Jr, on September 10, 2017, the office of Transportation Security (OTS) alerted him that one black luggage at the final check counter was screened for presence of bundles of currencies.
At the rigid inspection of the luggage, it was discovered it had one thousand bills and five hundreds bills, amounting to two million five hundred twenty eight thousand pesos (P2,528,000).
The money was confiscated by the Bureau Of Customs. Under the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular No. 922 Series of 2016 Section 4 ,a passenger is entitled to bring out the limited amount Php 50,000.00);any excess is prohibited unless a permit is issued by the BSP.
Customs Officer Supremo said the passenger claimed that the money was intended for his plan to buy a property but that the purchase did not materialize.
