The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Saturday issued a stern warning against the registered owner of the smuggled blue Bugatti Chiron hypersports car.
Customs Commissioner Bien Rubio vowed to find a certain Thu Thrang Nguyen, the registered owner of the blue sports car with plate number NIM 5448.
“Surrender, or you will face the consequences. We already have the information on the location of the car, but we are still verifying this. But for the owner, it would be better for him to surrender, similar to what the owner of the red Bugatti did yesterday,” he said.
The red sports car with plate number NIM 5450 and registered to Menguin Zhu was surrendered to the agency’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP) on Friday, Feb. 9, in a house in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City.
This was after a public appeal made by the BOC earlier this week to find the two Bugatti Chiron sports cars—worth around P165 million each without customs duties and taxes—seen around the cities of Pasay, Pasig, Muntinlupa, and Cavite.
Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Juvymax Uy said that the Bureau issued the public appeal after confirming that the vehicles have no importation documents.
“We received derogatory information about these cars back in November 2023, so we asked the Management Information System Technical Group (MISTG) to check if these cars have papers, and it was later on confirmed that they do not have the documents necessary to bring the vehicles here,” he said.
Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Verne Enciso already issued a directive to double the efforts in pursuing the leads gathered to locate the blue Bugatti Chiron sports car.
“To the owner of the blue Bugatti, I promise that we will find you. A sports car like this attracts attention on the road. With the promise of a cash reward, we expect to receive information as soon as you drive your car on the road. It’s going to be a small world from now on.”
Along with the public appeal, the BOC promised that cash awards await the informers or whistleblowers.
This is in accordance with Section 1512 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and CAO 03-2022, which provides a cash reward of 20 percent of the actual revenue collected to an informant who will lead to the discovery of smuggled goods and items.
The owners of the Bugatti Chiron cars will face charges for violating Section 1401 in relation to Sections 1400 and 1113 of the CMTA.