Hot Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsches seized in Makati
A Presidential Task Force on Thursday seized 81 “hot” luxury cars, a number of which allegedly belonged to San Juan Mayor Jose Victor “JV” Ejercito, from a repair shop in Makati City.
Mostly smuggled allegedly through a port in Cebu City, the vehicles were valued at more than P200 million.
Antonio Villar Jr., head of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), said a warrant of seizure and detention was served on Auto Sports 24 Corp. at No. 2320 Chino Roces Ave. (formerly Pasong Tamo), where 84 luxury cars were undergoing repairs.
“Out of the 84 vehicles at the shop, 81 were initially found to be lacking the necessary documents proving that they had been imported legally,” Villar said.
At least one Lamborghini, a Ferrari, 21 BMWs, 16 Mercedes Benzes, 11 Porsches, four Jaguars and three Volvos were among those subjected to verification yesterday, Villar said.
A source, who requested anonymity because he was not allowed to divulge the details of the operation, said at least seven of the luxury vehicles at the shop were owned by Mayor Ejercito.
The source said Ejercito, a son of deposed President Joseph Estrada, went to the site of the raid and claimed that he had paid the necessary taxes for his vehicles, including a black Ferrari.
“(Ejercito) said that just because of one Lamborghini, all the other vehicles were also questioned,” the source said, adding that Ejercito was trying to dispute the warrant of seizure and detention.
Villar said the Lamborghini was tagged a hot car because the owner could not present a single document attesting to its legality.
The luxury sports car’s plate number originally belonged to a Mitsubishi Pajero, raising the suspicion that it had indeed been smuggled.
Wedding gift
The source said that the 1995 Ferrari, which costs P8.7 million, was given to Ejercito by a prominent businessman as a wedding gift.
A PASG operative, who refused to be named for lack of authority to speak about the raid, said Ejercito himself went to Auto Sports while the raid was in progress.
Ejercito denied that he attempted to intervene during the raid.
A Palace official, who knew of the raid, said Ejercito had also called Villar to ask that five of the cars be spared because they were his.
But a PASG operative said the owner of Auto Sports identified the following as owned by Ejercito—a Mercedes Benz 320 with Plate No. ZFT-700, a Mercedes Benz 350 SL (NFT-834), a BMW M6 (EJV-707), a Range Rover (HSE-800), a classic 1956 Thunderbird, a black Ferrari (UNT-829) and a BMW 750 (TLU-878).
Villar said the raid on Auto Sports was not based on Ejercito’s tip. “Our operatives got a hint about the warehouse there when a Ferrari entered the establishment,” he said.
‘Electronic hand tools’
He said PASG operatives monitored the activities in the area for two weeks before they conducted the raid.
Import documents showed that some of the vehicles were declared as “electronic hand tools,” he said.
“Most of them came from Cebu,” the PASG chief said.
Edmund Arugay, PASG chief for operations, said that of the 81 luxury vehicles, 31 were confirmed to have been smuggled.
“We are verifying the status of the rest, but we could say that 80 percent of the total number of vehicles would be forfeited in favor of the government because of lack of papers,” said Arugay, a deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation.
The car owners’ failure to show the documents would mean that they would be charged with violating the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, he said.
LTO in cahoots?
Arugay said the task force would also look into the possible involvement of some Land Transportation Office personnel in the illegal importation and undervaluation of the vehicles.
“We suspect that some of them faked the vehicles’ certificates of payment,” he said.
By Margaux Ortiz, Tonette Orejas - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Mostly smuggled allegedly through a port in Cebu City, the vehicles were valued at more than P200 million.
Antonio Villar Jr., head of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), said a warrant of seizure and detention was served on Auto Sports 24 Corp. at No. 2320 Chino Roces Ave. (formerly Pasong Tamo), where 84 luxury cars were undergoing repairs.
“Out of the 84 vehicles at the shop, 81 were initially found to be lacking the necessary documents proving that they had been imported legally,” Villar said.
At least one Lamborghini, a Ferrari, 21 BMWs, 16 Mercedes Benzes, 11 Porsches, four Jaguars and three Volvos were among those subjected to verification yesterday, Villar said.
A source, who requested anonymity because he was not allowed to divulge the details of the operation, said at least seven of the luxury vehicles at the shop were owned by Mayor Ejercito.
The source said Ejercito, a son of deposed President Joseph Estrada, went to the site of the raid and claimed that he had paid the necessary taxes for his vehicles, including a black Ferrari.
“(Ejercito) said that just because of one Lamborghini, all the other vehicles were also questioned,” the source said, adding that Ejercito was trying to dispute the warrant of seizure and detention.
Villar said the Lamborghini was tagged a hot car because the owner could not present a single document attesting to its legality.
The luxury sports car’s plate number originally belonged to a Mitsubishi Pajero, raising the suspicion that it had indeed been smuggled.
Wedding gift
The source said that the 1995 Ferrari, which costs P8.7 million, was given to Ejercito by a prominent businessman as a wedding gift.
A PASG operative, who refused to be named for lack of authority to speak about the raid, said Ejercito himself went to Auto Sports while the raid was in progress.
Ejercito denied that he attempted to intervene during the raid.
A Palace official, who knew of the raid, said Ejercito had also called Villar to ask that five of the cars be spared because they were his.
But a PASG operative said the owner of Auto Sports identified the following as owned by Ejercito—a Mercedes Benz 320 with Plate No. ZFT-700, a Mercedes Benz 350 SL (NFT-834), a BMW M6 (EJV-707), a Range Rover (HSE-800), a classic 1956 Thunderbird, a black Ferrari (UNT-829) and a BMW 750 (TLU-878).
Villar said the raid on Auto Sports was not based on Ejercito’s tip. “Our operatives got a hint about the warehouse there when a Ferrari entered the establishment,” he said.
‘Electronic hand tools’
He said PASG operatives monitored the activities in the area for two weeks before they conducted the raid.
Import documents showed that some of the vehicles were declared as “electronic hand tools,” he said.
“Most of them came from Cebu,” the PASG chief said.
Edmund Arugay, PASG chief for operations, said that of the 81 luxury vehicles, 31 were confirmed to have been smuggled.
“We are verifying the status of the rest, but we could say that 80 percent of the total number of vehicles would be forfeited in favor of the government because of lack of papers,” said Arugay, a deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation.
The car owners’ failure to show the documents would mean that they would be charged with violating the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, he said.
LTO in cahoots?
Arugay said the task force would also look into the possible involvement of some Land Transportation Office personnel in the illegal importation and undervaluation of the vehicles.
“We suspect that some of them faked the vehicles’ certificates of payment,” he said.
By Margaux Ortiz, Tonette Orejas - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Labels: smuggling
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