Customs personnel open boxes containing misdeclared glutathione products (Photo courtesy of Bureau of Customs)
About 48 cartons聽of glutathione and other beauty products worth P8.65 million were seized at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for being misdeclared, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said聽on Wednesday.
The two shipments containing the products were seized after the consignee, identified as James Malinao Halasan 鈥渕isdeclared the items as personal effects.鈥�
鈥淧ackages of James Malinao Halasan flew from Bangkok, Thailand to Manila on board聽PR731 on February 13 but an alert order was issued by lawyer Vincent Phillip聽Maronilla, district collector of NAIA for alleged misdeclaration,鈥� the bureau said in a statement.
Halasan鈥檚 two shipments, which weighed聽927 kg and 1,120 kg, respectively, showed 鈥渋mage irregularities鈥� during an x-ray examination, the BOC disclosed.
BOC commissioner Isidro Lapena said the products were found to be misdeclared after the shipments were physically examined in the presence of agents of the Enforcement and Security Service, X-Ray Inspection Project, and聽Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force.
鈥淎nother shipment of Halasan was placed on hold by the BOC-NAIA which were聽declared as personal effects but was suspected to contain the same misdeclared聽beauty products,鈥� Lapena said.
鈥淭o ensure that his packages will not slip under our sleeves, BOC already issued an聽alert order on the remaining 8 packages,鈥� he added.
The shipments, Lapena said, would be subject to seizure for violation of Section 1400 of Republic Act 10863, which penalizes misdeclaration, misclassification, and undervaluation in declaring goods.聽 /muf