Anti-impotence drugs seized

Commissioner John P. Sevilla. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Customs authorities have seized a parcel containing anti-impotence drugs mailed from the United States.

The parcel, which contained 268 blue-colored pills suspected to be sildenafil citrate—a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and sold under various brand names like “Viagra”—was declared as containing “assorted pharmaceutical products.”

The parcel was seized by Customs officials for violation of Section 2530 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP), as amended, in relation to Food and Drug Administration law, rules, and regulations and the Intellectual Property Code or Republic Act No. 8293.

According to the Bureau of Customs (BOC), by law, even mailed parcels and packages are inspected by the BOC and are subject to the same restrictions and prohibitions for products allowed to enter the Philippines.

“All products that come into the country—whether by ship, balikbayan box or even postal parcels, are subject to Customs inspection and maybe charged with corresponding duties and taxes or are outright prohibit or require special permits,” Customs Commissioner John Sevilla said in a statement.

“Unscrupulous individuals sometimes try to use postal mail and express parcels to ship illegal or prohibited items to and from the Philippines because they think that there is minimal chance of being caught. Let this be a warning to the public that we are closely monitoring all mail, parcels, and packages,” he added.

The package was mailed last Jan. 6, 2014 to a certain Angelica Amor Vasquez with address at 171 Gomez Street, Barangay Addition Hills, San Juan City. The package arrived at the San Juan Central Post Office on Jan. 18, 2014 where it remained unclaimed for the last eight months, prompting authorities to open the package.

The illegally imported drugs, which have an estimated street value of more than P40,000, was turned-over by Customs operatives to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).