The Bureau of Customs (BOC) will probe the eight seized luxury cars being linked to former Bicol Ako party-list Rep. Zaldy Co to check whether these were smuggled or misdeclared.
Chris Noel Bendijo, Deputy Chief of Staff of BOC-Office of the Commissioner (OCOM), said the probe would start this week.
“…it would be easier for us to implement our system— if this would fall under unlawful importation, whether technical smuggling or if these were misclassified or were misdeclared based on the entries that we have in the Bureau of Customs. We would do it this week,” he said in a radio interview Monday.
Last week, the court issued search warrants for nine vehicles, but only eight were found in Taguig City.
These are a Lexus LX450d; one Toyota Sequoia; one Rolls Royce; three Cadillac Escalade; one Lexus LX570; and one Mercedes Benz V220d. Based on the BOC assessment, the total value of the vehicles is more than P145 million.
The search warrant against the luxury cars were issued after the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) received intelligence information that the cars reportedly did not have import entries, which is in violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) Section 1401 that covers “Unlawful Importation or Exportation.”
The BOC noted that registered owners of the vehicles are welcome to submit documents and refute initial findings that luxury cars were supposedly smuggled.
The vehicles are currently under the safekeeping of the ICI. (PNA)