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Sta. Cruz warehouse checks yield P31.5M smuggled fake drugs
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Various items among the contraband require registration and clearance from the Food and Drug Administration
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The Bureau of Customs is looking into other possible violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, and FDA Act
Smuggled fake and unregistered health products with an estimated value of P31.5 million were seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in two operations on April 19 in Santa Cruz, Manila.
Armed with Letters of Authority issued by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, a joint team from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Intellectual Property Rights Division, BOC-Port of Manila, National Bureau of Investigation-National Capital Region, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines inspected the warehouses at 1005 Ongpin St. and Units A, B, C, and D at 641 Fernandez St., Santa Cruz.
Before sealing the warehouses, the team conducted an inventory of the smuggled fake drugs and found various items that did not have the required registration and clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the BOC said in a statement. These items included medical and cosmetic products such as Lianhua Lung Cleansing Tea, Healthy Brain Pills, Gluta Lipo, Lidan Tablets, Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, Vita herbs, and other goods bearing Chinese brands.
BOC said most items were imported from China but some were bought locally.
The goods found in the warehouses at 1005 Ongpin Street were valued to be at around P9.5 million while the ones at 642 Fernandez Street were valued at about P22 million.
READ: BOC seizes P80M worth of counterfeit goods
The representatives of the warehouses were asked by the team to provide importation documents and pertinent permits covering all the goods there.
Further investigation is under way for other possible violations of Republic Act No. 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act; RA 8293, or the FDA Act.
