President Rodrigo Duterte led the destruction of 20 smuggled second-hand luxury cars from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, and China worth more than P61 million on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) headquarters in Manila.
The wrecking of 10 other luxury vehicles was also done simultaneously in the ports of Cebu and Davao.
Among the 20 illegally imported vehicles dismantled in Manila include Pajero, BMW, Jaguar, Audi, Mercedes, Ford Explorer, Corvette Stingray, Lexus, and McLaren.
On February 1, Duterte warned smugglers that he would not tolerate the auction of the smuggled cars in the country.
“Consignee fake news, fake name, fake address, Your style is you wait for one year and six months and then these are put on auction wherein you are also the ones who buy them. In that way, if these are auctioned then the importation of these luxury vehicles already becomes legal,” he said.
The branded cars were nabbed for overstaying and for lacking release clearance papers, according to Customs.