A CHINESE national has voluntarily surrendered to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) a P165-million red Bugatti Chiron sports car that the authorities have been searching for on suspicions that it was smuggled.
Still on the BOC watchlist is a blue luxury car, color blue with plate number NIM 5448 reportedly registered to a certain Thu Thrang Nguyen,
The Red Bugatti was registered to a certain Menguin Zhu, according to a Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio.
The turnover came a week after the BOC aired a public appeal for more information about two suspected smuggled luxury cars running around the cities of Pasay, Pasig, Muntinlupa, and Cavite.
Rubio commended the operatives of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service – Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP).for the immediate result of the hot pursuit operation that led to the surrender of one of the two cars that had no import documents.
“This shows what we can achieve by working together. This is a big win for the Bureau as we are working toward curbing smuggling of all kinds and making sure our borders are secured from these activities,” Rubio stressed
Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Juvymax Uy said the red Bugatti was surrendered to the joint BOC team in a house in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City where the red sports car was reportedly hidden.
“Our intelligence is that the red Bugatti had been stored in a house in Alabang. Since we shared the information about the two cars publicly, it got harder for the owners to drive these anywhere,” he said.
The registered owners of the two 2023 model sports
cars—one colored blue (with plate number NIM 5448) and one red (with plate number NIM 5450)—are Menguin Zhu and Thu Thrang Nguyen.
The BOC is still establishing the cars’ country of origin and whether they are brand new or used at the time of the importation.
CIIS director Verne Enciso said they had already asked the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to investigate how the cars were given registration papers despite not having the proper importation documents.
“Of course, we want to get to the bottom of this. It’s not just about having the sports car in our possession now since it entered the country illegally, but it’s also about understanding how this happened and how such a car was registered despite having no import documents.
We want to know who allowed this to happen,” he said.
“Our job is not yet done. The blue Bugatti is still out there. We will find it in due time,” Enciso added.
The cars, which cost around P165 million each without Customs duties and taxes, have been investigated by the BOC since November 2023 after receiving “derogatory information” about them.
Early this week, the BOC asked for information about the cars and said that cash rewards await the informers or whistle-blowers.
This is in accordance with Section 1512 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and Customs Administrative Order 03-2022, which provides a cash reward of 20 percent of the actual revenue collected.
Despite surrendering the car, the owner will still face charges for violating Section 1400 in relation to Section 1113 of the CMTA.
It was not clear how the two luxury cars were smuggled out of the Port of Batangas.
Meanwhile, Enciso said that the BOC is currently coordinating with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to investigate how the cars were given registration papers despite not having the proper importation documents.