Customs seizes 9 knocked down vehicles at Davao port

MANILA, Philippines - Customs agents seized nine units of misdeclared, completely knocked down vehicles from Japan in the Port of Davao.

Alvin Enciso, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) assistant officer-in-charge in the Port of Davao, said smugglers might be attempting to use the Port of Davao as an alternative entry point for second-hand cars.

Enciso said smugglers might have chosen Davao as an alternative port for their cargo because of the tight monitoring of authorities at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport, the usual gateway for imported second-hand cars.

“They might also have a market in Davao,” he said.

“But as per data, all ports especially our ports have the same attempts to smuggle in chop-chop (vehicles).”

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Davao has received information that a 40-foot container van containing nine units of completely knocked down used vehicles arrived in the port last April 28.

Valued at P2.7 million, the cargo reportedly came from Japan and was consigned to Amil Trading.

It was allegedly misdeclared to contain truck replacement parts and Amil Trading’s accreditation with the BOC has reportedly expired.

However, the BOC in the Port of Davao under District Collector Ernesto Aradanas did a profiling of the shipment last May 23.

It was discovered that the cargo contains nine used cars, including a Toyota BB and a Honda Fit.

Enciso said: “It was dismantled but the body, chassis and engine were all intact, purposely to deceive customs officials.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Roswald Joseph Pague of the BOC in Northern Mindanao denied a radio report in Cagayan de Oro City that cars are being smuggled from the Middle East through ports in Mindanao.

The shipments passed through proper channels in the BOC, he added.

Pague saw no issue in the subsequent transshipment of the cargo from the Mindanao Container Terminal Sub-port in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental to the Ozamiz Port as the consignee had requested.

“It is the preference of the consignee where to pay taxes and duties,” he said.

The sub-port at Tagoloan serves as a transshipment port for international cargo, he added.