THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) filed three criminal complaints against importers over P87 million worth of misdeclared smuggled goods.
Three complaints were filed by the bureau before the Department of Justice.
According to the BOC, they filed a case against a “Denian Dry Goods Trading” firm for its alleged misdeclaration of 343 cartons of Union-brand cigarettes, 588 cartons of Astro American Blend-brand cigarettes and 32 cartons of laptop table worth P50.77 million. The incident happened on September 18, 2020 at the Port of Cagayan de Oro, documents from the BoC revealed.
The bureau also said they also filed a criminal complaint against a “Micastar Consumer Goods Trading” for allegedly misdeclaring P33.19-million worth of copy paper, insulators, chairs, bricks and cigarettes at the Port of Manila on May 2, 2021.
Likewise, the bureau said a complaint was also filed against Jantheara Trading International, which allegedly misdeclared an estimated 2,500 bags of imported onions amounting to P3.3 million on May 17, 2021 at the Port of Davao.
Similar complaints have also been filed against the licensed customs brokers who processed the importations of the three importers, adding that both importers and customs brokers purportedly violated several provisions of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (Republic Act 10863) and other applicable laws.
Earlier this week, Customs said they have seized P4.43-billion worth of suspected smuggled goods from January to May this year.
Counterfeit products worth P1.98 billion cornered the bulk of the total value of seized goods during the period.
Last year, the BOC seized P10.629 billion worth of smuggled goods, with imported cigarettes and tobacco products making up the bulk.