Photo from BOC-Davao
DAVAO CITY — The Bureau of Customs-Port of Davao recently presented a luxury car that was seized early this month for being misdeclared as vehicle spare parts.
The vehicle, a white Porsche 911 GT3 RS, was valued at P15.3 million and was imported from Japan.
Based on the report of the port, the agency got a tip from the Sasa Police Station about the smuggled vehicle that prompted District Collector Erastus Sandino B. Austria to issue an alert order against the shipment.
The agency immediately issued a warrant of seizure and detention against the cargo which arrived at the Sasa Port on August 31 and was consigned to JJCTD Import and Export Trading Corp.
The agency immediately coordinated with other law enforcement agencies as they decided to open the cargo to check whether there was truth to the report.
Although the van containing the smuggled vehicle also showed some vehicle spare parts, these were used to conceal the car.
Among the agencies invited to check on the smuggled vehicle was the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency XI which searched the vehicle on whether it was used to sneak into the country illegal substances. The anti-drug agency cleared the vehicle of prohibited drugs.
The port has become subject of enhanced monitoring because in the past, it was not only used as entry point for smuggled goods, but also illegal drugs.
A decade ago, a businessman who then was operating an X-Ray machine owned by the government clashed with the agency after he reported that a cargo declared as rice was passed on as vehicle spare parts.
Instead of listening to him, the agency ordered that his operations be stopped and that the cargo be turned over as it was eventually auctioned off.
The legal tussle between the businessman, Rodolfo C. Reta of the prominent Reta clan, and the officials of the agency at that time even resulted in the dismissal from service of some of those officials. However, despite winning the case, Reta has since failed to operate his business.
In 2014, law enforcers also seized cocaine from a van parked inside a private port, an indication that the port was used as a transshipment point of illegal drugs. The discovery came about after a top military officer about five years earlier warned that those involved in smuggling and illegal drug activities might use the port for their criminal activities.