Auction of P22.4-M in smuggled cars moved to June 9

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has moved to June 9, instead of the earlier May 27 schedule, the public auction of four smuggled cars to be sold for at least a total of P22.4 million.

In a May 26 notice, Manila International Container Port (MICP) district collector Romeo Allan Rosales said interested bidders can inspect the smuggled 2006 Lamborghini Vin, which the BOC seized in 2016, at the Pacific Roadlink Logistics Inc. (PRLI) facility in Angat, Bulacan on June 8.

The three other cars — to be auctioned off for the fourth time — can be inspected on June 7 at the Port Users Confederation (PUC) grounds in South Harbor, Port Area, Manila.

A BOC spokesperson did not reply to the Inquirer when asked why Friday’s auction was postponed.

The floor prices of the four cars remained the same as those listed down on the earlier May 20 MICP notice which had scheduled disposition on May 27. The Lamborghini will still be up for grabs for a minimum price of P10.4 million.

The three other vehicles, which were all seized at the MICP last year, had been part of the original lineup of hot cars auctioned off in December 2021, January this year and last April. Since yet to be sold, the BOC will again put on the auction block the 2008 Ferrari Scuderia 430, 2001 Porsche Boxster, and 2011 Mercedes Benz E220.

From their April floor prices, the three unsold cars will be offered chepaper—the Ferrari, at least P10.5 million; the Porsche, P809,082.97; and the Mercedes Benz, P783,049.46.

The prices of the hot cars auctioned off last April were already slashed by half compared to the earlier BOC pricing. Car enthusiasts had deemed the original offer prices as overpriced for used vehicles.

In April, the BOC raised P6.3 million from the three smuggled cars it sold instead of destroying them as done in the past. The BOC successfully disposed of a brand-new Mercedes Benz G500 sport utility vehicle (SUV), at P4.8 million; a 2001 Mercedes Benz SLK55, at P775,000; as well as a 2001 Mercedes Benz SLK350, at P730,000. The two Mercedes Benz cars sold last month fetched higher bids than their minimum bid prices, which were also half of their floor prices in December and January.

Pre-pandemic, the BOC destroyed smuggled vehicles in public to show that the government was serious in its anti-smuggling drive. But late last year, the government changed its tack and turned to auctioning off the luxury cars it had seized in order to generate more revenues amid the prolonged fight against COVID-19.

TSB