Agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) have confiscated around P10 billion worth of counterfeit branded bags, shoes and other products when they swooped down on a storage facility in Binondo, Manila on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the operation led by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP) came following confirmed intelligence reports about the presence of counterfeit products in Binondo.
Armed with the Letter of Authority signed by Rubio, CIIS-MICP agents, backed by operatives of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Philippine Coast Guard and Task Force Aduana, raided the area on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
“Upon inspection of the warehouse, the team found imported assorted clothing apparel, shoes, general merchandise, kitchenware, electronics, and beauty products,” said Rubio.
“These counterfeit items infringe trademarks, such as Nike, Coach, Adidas, Guess, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Gucci, among others,” he added.
Rubio said his men temporarily padlocked and sealed the warehouse after the fake items were discovered inside.
The operation in Binondo was the latest of the series of raids and inspections conducted by the BOC since Rubio assumed the top post of the agency last month.
On Feb. 17, the BOC also seized some P1.5 billion worth of counterfeit products in a raid in Pasay City.
Over P200 million worth of agriculture products were also seized in the series of operations in the past days.
Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Juvymax Uy attributed the series successful operations on what he described as a strong leadership of Rubio.
“Our good commissioner has taken it upon himself to lead the agency into a new chapter where our personnel are empowered to fulfill our mandate every day. His leadership allows us to get to the bottom of these illegal activities,” said Uy.
“Our BOC officials used all available resources and tools to thwart this attempt to enter such a huge amount of counterfeit items into our market. Imagine what this could do to our local producers and the foreign brands that invest in us?,” Uy asked.
Uy said the inventory of the goods will be conducted by the assigned Customs examiner, and would be witnessed by agents from BOC’s CIIS and Enforcement and Security Service (ESS).
“The owners of the goods would be asked to present importation documents or proof of payment by the Customs authorities.,” said Uy.
If found without proper documents, Uy said the corresponding seizure and forfeiture proceedings will be conducted against the subject shipments for violation of Sec. 1400 (misdeclaration in goods declaration) in relation to Sec. 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of Republic Act No. 10863 known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).