THE Philippine National Police (PNP) Highway Patrol Group (HPG) intercepted four closed truck vans that yielded over P221 million worth of allegedly smuggled gadgets.
In a press conference, HPG Director Brigadier General Hansel Marantan said HPG personnel conducted an anti-carnapping and Oplan Sita operation along Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City on Wednesday dawn, January 28, 2026, after receiving verified information about a convoy of closed vans allegedly transporting illicit goods from Central Luzon to Metro Manila.
The police flagged the four vans for using improvised license plates.
Marantan said that during standard inspections and document verification, operatives noted suspicious behavior from the drivers and inconsistencies in the cargo documents presented.
Upon voluntary inspection, it was discovered that the actual contents of the vehicles, including cellphones and tablets, did not match the declared items—listed as gadget accessories—indicating possible misdeclaration and tax-related violations.
The seized cargo has an estimated market value of P221.5 million.
“Hindi naman yan accessories. It’s the cellphone ang naka onboard sa mga closed vans, hindi lang accessories. So we will advise especially the BIR to check how much they have paid. Ang sabi niya at the outset misdeclared na yan so that prompted us na ibigay lalo sa BOC (Bureau of Customs) para imbestigahan,” Marantan said.
(Those are not accessories. What’s on board the closed vans are cellphones, not just accessories. So we will advise, especially the BIR, to check how much they have paid. From the outset, it was already misdeclared, and that prompted us to refer the matter to the BOC for investigation.)
“Malaking impact ito dahil kung ito ay mapapatunayan na hindi sila nagbabayad ng tamang buwis ay malaki ang nalulugi kasi dapat magbayad sila ng tamang buwis sa ating gobyerno,” he added.
(This has a major impact because if it is proven that they are not paying the correct taxes, the losses would be significant, since they are supposed to pay the proper taxes to our government.)
The alleged smuggled items were turned over to the BOC for further investigation and verification. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)