51 high-end cars involved in Pasig showroom raid lack papers — Customs

Bureau of Customs (BOC) makes an inventory of high-end vehicles on display at the showroom of RDY Premium Cars in Barangay Ugong, Pasig city. (File photo from BOC Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — Remember the showroom in Pasig city filled with high-end, exotic, hyper cars that was raided by Bureau of Customs (BOC) in July this year?

It appears that 51 of the 87 vehicles tagged by BOC as having ‘questionable documents’ during the raid really lacked documents.

This is based on the report of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) of BOC.

As a result, warrants of seizure and detention have been issued against the owners of the 51 vehicles.

The move comes, after the owners of these cars failed to adhere to the bureau’s 15-day deadline to submit documents.

BOC-CIIS Director Verne Enciso said, in this kind of situation, the vehicles can be seized by authorities.

This is stated in Section 224 of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

“Without proper documents and permits, these motor vehicles’ presence on Philippine soil means they are either stolen or smuggled,” Enciso said.

“Crimes don’t just happen in dark corners. It happens in brightly-lit showrooms like where our operation happened,” he noted.

In July, BOC said it raided RDY showroom in Barangay Ugong, Pasig city where they found 197 imported vehicles — including 87 with questionable documents.

Among the brands of vehicles under question were Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Jaguar, GMC, McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, and Land Rover.

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