At least 22 pieces of stolen diamonds worth millions of pesos were seized by the Bureau of Customs.
Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said the diamonds were brought into the country through a balikbayan box sent from Kuala Lumpur.
The gems were in a resealable plastic pouch hidden in the pocket of the balikbayan box sent by a certain Arturo Rivera and was consigned to a Lajane Basilio of Bataan.
Faeldon said they received information from the National Bureau of Investigation that an illegal shipment from Malaysia will be arriving in Manila through a balikbayan box.
“It is disheartening to confiscate a balikbayan box, believing it contains gifts and items for loved ones of overseas Filipinos in the Philippines,” the Customs chief said.
“We could not tolerate Filipinos abroad using these boxes in all forms of smuggling as it violates our laws,” he added.
The diamonds were shipped as part of 246 packages in a container van aboard the vessel Sima Genesis 0231 that arrived on Dec. 5 from Port of Klang, Malaysia.
Faeldon said the package was only valued at P56,000.
But based on global prices, diamonds are priced at $1,400 or P70,000 per carat.
Faeldon said the diamonds are now under the custody of the BoC-Manila International Container Port.