MANILA: Tons of used clothing, popularly known as ‘ukay-ukay’, worth millions of pesos and fake high-end goods have been recovered by intelligence operatives of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in simultaneous raids on four buildings on Cuneta Avenue in Pasay City (Metro Manila).
Seized during the raids, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Neil Estrella said, were the used clothing and the counterfeit goods bearing labels of Birkenstock, Lebron Nike, Vans, Sanuk, Havaianas, Ipanema Nike, Havaianas Flipflop, Sandugo, Versace, Nike Jordan, Adidas, Crocs, Star Wars (Pokemon toys), Puma and Nike, among others.
The raiding team was armed with four mission orders and four letters of authority issued by Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on March 9.
Estrella said investigation is ongoing to pinpoint the owner of the fake goods and the brokers and their cohorts in the BOC who helped facilitate the release of the used clothing.
Republic Act 4653 prohibits the importation of used clothing, while importation of counterfeit products is in grave violation of RA 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines and RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016.
“We cannot yet give the exact value of the seized used clothing but the volume could provide stocks to the supply chain within Metro Manila and in nearby provinces,” Estrella said.
