Two importers are now facing criminal raps for allegedly bringing in smuggled cigarettes and used clothing or "ukay-ukay" in the country, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Thursday, July 8.
Through the Bureau’s Action Team against Smugglers (BATAS), the BOC recently filed two criminal complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against importers Green Nature Alliance Venture Corp. and Humility Trading, as well as their customs brokers, for the alleged unlawful importation and misdeclaration of smuggled goods.
Green Nature Alliance Venture Corp. and its customs broker were charged for alleged misdeclaration of 540 boxes of Marvels cigarettes and 500 boxes of Mighty cigarettes amounting to P56,374,355.20. It was committed on February 10, 2021 at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
BATAS said the act was a violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA); Customs Memorandum Order No. 20-2006; Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Law; National Tobacco Administration (NTA) Board Resolution 079-2005; National Tobacco Memorandum Circular No. 03, s. 2004; and the Revised Penal Code (RPC), as amended.
Humility Trading and its customs broker, on the other hand, are also facing a criminal complaint for their alleged involvement in the unlawful importation and misdeclaration of 79 bales of used bed sheets and 229 bales of used clothing last October 13, 2020 at the Port of Cagayan de Oro.
BATAS also said that the respondents purportedly violated the CMTA; the RPC, as amended; and Republic Act (RA) No.4653, otherwise known as “An Act to Safeguard the Health of the People and Maintain the Dignity of the Nation by Declaring it a National Policy to Prohibit the Commercial Importation of Textile Articles Commonly Known as Used Clothing and Rags."
A total of 49 smuggling complaints have been filed by the bureau against erring importers so far this year.