The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) nearly P40 million worth of banned beauty products and shoes that were packed into balikbayan boxes and declared as household goods and personal effects.
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said on Tuesday that 12 balikbayan boxes from Abu Dhabi were recently flagged by their inspectors after these were found to contain around 6,500 Goree beauty products which were banned last year by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The beauty products, estimated to be worth around P8 million, were earlier found to contain toxic mercury levels.
An estimated P25 million worth of glutathione products from Thailand and Malaysia were also seized as these entered the country without the necessary FDA permit.
A total of 15 balikbayan boxes from Italy were also flagged by the BOC after these were found to contain 111 pairs of branded shoes such as Nike, Adidas and Balenciaga worth around P7 million.
Following seizure and forfeiture proceedings, Lapeña said the seized items would either be destroyed, donated or auctioned off. —Jovic Yee