MANILA, Philippines — Agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted two packages containing undeclared $13,500 cash (around P650,000) inside a shipping warehouse at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the commission said Saturday.
In a statement, the BOC said the packages arrived on Oct. 23 and Oct. 29, and were later intercepted on Oct. 30.
Both packages were sent by the same sender from Jefferson City, in the United States and were consigned to the same person in Poblacion, Muntinlupa City.
According to the BOC, the first package contained 75 pieces of $100 bills. The second package, meanwhile, contained 150 pieces of $20 bills, 20 pieces of $50 bills, and 20 pieces of $100 bills.
The BOC said that both packages were misdeclared as “correspondence/no value.”
“The seized foreign currencies shall be subjected to seizure and forfeiture proceedings in violation of Sections 1400 (Misdeclaration) and 1113 of Republic Act. No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act in relation to Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Foreign Exchange Transaction Manual,” the BOC said.