Customs takes custody of corals seized in Cebu City last week

THE Bureau of Customs has yet to identify the owners of the P15-million worth of corals seized by the Bureau of Customs in Cebu City last Friday.

BOC lawyer Ronnie Sylvestre said they issued a warrant of seizure and detention last Tuesday to officially take custody of the endangered species, mostly black corals used as decoration.

“No one claimed ownership of the corals because it entails a criminal liability,” Sylvestre told Cebu Daily News in an interview.

He said BOC’s legal department will conduct hearings to determine the validity of the warrant of seizure and detention.

If nobody claims ownership and the legal department approves the validity of the warrant, the items will be forfeited in favor of the government.

“It will be final and executory 15 days after the issuance of the decision and no claimants will appear,” Sylvestre said.

He said they will forward the recovered species to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR-7).

“It would be up to them on how they would dispose of the species,” Sylvestre said.