AT least P300 million of fake luxury brand items and unregistered health products were seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Monday in Las Piñas and Manila.
In a statement, the BOC said the joint operation of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS)-Manila International Container Port, and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Special Action Unit inside Perpetual Village, Las Piñas City on Friday yielded more or less P250 million of smuggled fake luxury items.
CIIS Director Jeoffrey Tacio said the confiscated clothing items, such as shorts, pants, t-shirts, polo shirts, and baby apparel, and bottles of perfume infringed on intellectual property rights (IPR).
“This operation was not going to be possible without the cooperation from all of our partner agencies. We have been working hard on trying to stop these infringed items from getting into our markets, fooling consumers, and turning us into a replica capital,” he said in a statement.
On the other hand, the CIIS-IPR Division, seized smuggled counterfeit and unregistered health products with an estimated value of PHP31.5 million in two separate operations on April 19 in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
Armed with Letters of Authority, the implementing team composed of personnel from Port of Manila, NBI-National Capital Region, and Armed Forces of the Philippines inspected the warehouses located along Ongpin and Fernandez Streets.
