Philippine customs backhoe up luxury cars to fight traffic

Published on : 06/22/2021 – 4:46 PMModified : 06/22/2021 – 5:19 PM

On his Facebook page, the Philippine Customs Office posted a series of photos showing several luxury cars destroyed in Manila, including a McLaren 620R, a 2007 Bentley, a Porsche 911. A less luxurious Hyundai Genesis and Toyoya Solara are also among the victims of the Philippine Customs backhoe.

According to the Customs Office, the purpose of these demolitions is “to send a strong message, [de montrer] that the government is serious in its efforts against trafficking “.

At the same time, in Cagayan de Oro, in the south of the country, 14 Mitsubishi Jeeps were destroyed. They arrived in spare parts in the Philippines in October 2018 from Japan.

A total of 21 vehicles were destroyed, for an amount of 58.55 million Philippine pesos, or approximately 1.01 million euros.

All these vehicles had been imported illegally, by different boats, and seized on different occasions between 2018 and 2020 by customs. Vehicles seized in the course of trafficking are often concealed in containers and not declared by importers, thus avoiding paying customs duties and taxes depending on the value of the vehicle. In November 2020, customs had confiscated from Porsches, Bentleys and Mercedes, transported by a container ship from Japan. The containers carrying the cars had been declared as loaded with various supplies. Other traffickers even hide cars under piles of clothes.

Since 2018 and a directive from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, customs have opted for the destruction of doctored cars rather than auctioning them, with the aim of deterring traffickers.

Since his arrival as President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has distinguished himself by a very aggressive policy against crime and corruption. In May 2018, he supervised the destruction of 100 cars imported via trafficking, for a sum equivalent to nearly 600,000 euros.

The Philippine Customs Office says it has seized 356 million pesos (6.15 million euros) of cars and goods related to their trafficking in 2020.