Government agents have seized P250 million worth of counterfeit products during a raid late last week in Las Pinas City.
A Joint team from the Manila International Container Port—Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service and the National Bureau of Investigation—Special Action Unit raided an establishment at 6 Peter Street in Perpetual Village where they found the smuggled fake products.
Among the seized items were baby apparel, T-shirts, bags, rubber shoes and other items bearing the “signature brands” of Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Lacoste, Levi’s, Adidas, Nike, Fila, Champion, Zara, Jo Malone, Lanvin, and H&M.
Customs Intelligence chief officer Jeoffrey Tacio said the items infringed on intellectual property rights (IPR).
“This operation was not going to be possible without the cooperation from 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.
Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Raniel Ramiro commended the NBI and the MICP-CIIS men for their latest accomplishment.
“We don’t want the country to suffer from a certain reputation that allows infringed goods to get into the market and make a mockery of our laws and systems,” Ramiro said.
“This is non-negotiable for us. We’re not only working to protect our borders; we want to secure our markets, too,” he added.
The seized items were subjected to further inventory and investigation for possible violation of Section 1400 of Republic Act 10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tarrif Act (CMTA), as well as other relevant intellectual property laws of the Philippines.