THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) discovered over P7.4 million worth of luxury car and other contraband on Friday morning, March 10, inside the six container vans placed in a private wharf in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
The container van-opening led by Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon inside Panabo’s Davao International Container Terminal (DICT) showed the vans contain smuggled onions worth P2.245 million, lumbers worth P3.4 million, and one Mercedes Benz worth P1.888 million. The amount of smuggled coconuts and wood pallets has yet to be determined.
The wood pallets, lumbers, and coconuts were supposedly bound for China while the luxury car was set to be exported in Belgium and onions to India.
Through the extensive intelligence gathering, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service said the smuggled items were seized during a BOC operation in DICT last December 29, 2016 to February 10, 2017.
All the seized contraband has no import clearance and was undeclared.
At present, BOC continues to monitor ports in Davao Region to ensure no contraband can enter the region.
The BOC warned exporters to follow and operate under the law by paying exact taxes to the government.