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Various counterfeit and smuggled items including cigarettes and medicines worth about P45 million were apprehended by the Bureau of Customs during an inspection of a storage facility in Alamanza, Las Piñas City
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Among those discovered during the January 28 raid was a clinic containing various Chinese medicines, cigarettes, and counterfeit items such as bags and food items
Various counterfeit and smuggled items including cigarettes and medicines worth an estimated total of P45 million were apprehended by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in a raid on a storage facility in Alamanza, Las Piñas City.
The January 28 inspection of the storage facility yielded, among others, a clinic containing various Chinese medicines, cigarettes, and counterfeit items such as bags and food items, BOC said in a statement.
The operation was conducted by the BOC-Manila International Container Port’s (MICP) Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, Enforcement and Security Service, Philippine Coast Guard, and National Bureau of Investigation.
A further inventory of the goods and the filing of charges against the perpetrators for violation of Section 1400 (Misdeclaration) of Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, are underway.
Last month, BOC-MICP also apprehended Chinese medicines worth an estimated P1.5 million at a storage facility in Pasay City.
BOC in 2020 seized an estimated P9.746 billion worth of smuggled goods, of which over half of the amount was accounted for by illicit tobacco products.
