Customs inspects 22 more luxury cars under litigation

He said the cars were not part of the destruction of the 30 cars last February 9, as they are still under litigation. (Photo: Bureau of Customs PH/Facebook)

MANILA— The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday inspected anew 22 high-end cars worth over PHP133 million, currently stored at the Manila International Container Ports (MICP).

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña led the inspection of the containers vans loaded with two Lamborghinis, one Ferrari, one Rolls Royce, three units of Range Rover, two Chevrolet Camaro, 12 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser, and one Maclaren with an estimated total value of PHP133,684,850.

He said the cars were not part of the destruction of the 30 cars last February 9, as they are still under litigation.

“These are the 22 vehicles undergoing litigation. Itong mga (These) vehicles we alerted last year due to under valuation,” Lapeña said.

“The order of forfeiture received by consignees on Feb 9 and importer has 15 days upon the receipt of the forfeiture to file their appeal. Otherwise the BOC would proceed with the destruction of the seized smuggled vehicles,” he explained.

The BOC chief added that they expect the consignees to file an appeal.

“We expect consignees would file an appeal and they make use of the time that is allotted them. So pagfile ng appeal it would go through the process of deliberation of the BOC legal division,” Lapeña said.

“Ang time frame all of this should be completed within 60 days period. ‘Yan ang maximum (period na) bigay ng ating legal division. (This is the maximum period given by our legal division). Mag-decide na kung (They will decide if) it will be finally forfeited in favor of government and the decision of the disposal would be made since we have the mode of disposal which is destruction then these vehicles would be condemned,” he added.

One brand new McLaren, two units brand new 2017 Chevrolet Camaro, two units brand new 2017 Range Rover, one brand new 2017 Land Rover Evoque, 12 units brand new Toyota Land Cruisers — all consigned to Gamma Gray Marketing — are undergoing legal proceedings.

A 2005 Ferrari F430 2006 and Lamborghini Murcielago consigned to Mary Joy Aguanta and Veronica Angeles, respectively, were declared forfeited in favor of the government by the MICP.

The Lamborghini Gallardo and Rolls Royce are consigned to Allan Usman Garcia and Roy Garchitorena, respectively, were alerted in February 2018 and are now under examination and verification of import documents.

On Feb. 9, President Rodrigo Duterte led the condemnation of 20 smuggled luxury vehicles at the Port Area in Manila while 10 other smuggled vehicles were simultaneously destroyed at the Ports of Davao and Cebu.