The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has confiscated P72.1 billion worth of smuggled goods in the first 10 months of 2024, exceeding its total seizures of P43.29 billion from the previous year.
At the BOC’s Inter-Agency Intelligence Summit on Oct. 18, Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio credited the strong inter-agency collaboration for the P43.29 billion worth of smuggled goods seized in 2023.
On top of that, the BOC reported that “from January to October 2024, the BOC successfully conducted 1,414 operations worth P72.091 billion of smuggled goods, surpassing its accomplishments last year.”
In October alone, the BOC seized P3.09 billion in smuggled goods, including P2.3 billion in various commodities, P22.3 million in cigarettes, and a P402 million vessel with smuggled petroleum products, the Customs stated.
Additionally, the BOC intercepted P42.16 million worth of illegal drugs at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and seized P323 million worth of smuggled rice.
The "record-breaking feat” proves that their “combined efforts are not only effective, but essential in combating smuggling and other illicit activities,” Rubio said, noting that it signals more successful operations to come.
Rubio emphasized the crucial role of the bureau's intelligence efforts in safeguarding the country’s borders, while Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto thanked the BOC for helping keep communities safe.
“In the face of increasingly complex threats, we must stand as a united front. With each of us having diverse expertise in the field of intelligence, we are afforded the opportunity to achieve far more collectively than any agency could accomplish alone,” Rubio said.
Juvymax Uy, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group, noted that the summit provides a platform for key government agencies to assess their strengths and weaknesses.
He added that the exchange of knowledge and experience during the summit will help improve trade facilitation, border protection, and customs cooperation efforts.
Recto described intelligence as the "vanguard" of law enforcement, emphasizing that it not only prevents armed intervention but also saves lives and resources by defusing threats and stopping crimes before they occur.
Recto also emphasized the role of the BOC’s intelligence division in combining traditional and modern methods to combat smuggling effectively.
“In the case of smuggling of goods, it is a crime that victimizes millions—from farmers who drown from the flood of imported agricultural products, to entrepreneurs whose businesses are choked by unfair trade,” the finance chief said.
“Outwitting them requires agility in action, and openness to new ideas and techniques,” he added. (Derco Rosal)