The owner of the P165-million blue Bugatti sports car surrendered the luxury car to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) after the bureau issued a warning that the owner could face arrest due to smuggling.
“We warned the owner of this blue sports car that we will find him and make him accountable. We’re glad he came to his senses and surrendered willingly to the bureau because we don’t plan on letting up anytime soon or ever,” BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Verne Enciso said.
Earlier, the owner of the Red Bugatti sports car was turned over to the bureau after the BOC issued a warning to its owners that the sports cars were illegally imported and needed to pay the proper duties and taxes.
A Chinese national has voluntarily surrendered the red Bugatti Chiron sports car that the authorities have been searching for on suspicions that it was smuggled.
“We are happy to report that the blue Bugatti sports car we’ve been looking for was finally surrendered to the BOC. The fact that the mission took barely three weeks speaks of the hard work and commitment we put into this since we appealed to the public to help us find these motor vehicles,” Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio said.
“Our intelligence is that the Bugatti sports cars were stored in a house in Alabang. Since we shared the information about the two cars publicly, it got harder for the owners to drive these anywhere,” he said.
The two Bugatti Chiron sports cars were the subject of a search launched by the agency a month ago after a lawmaker exposed that two luxury cars were illegally released at the Port of Batangas.
Rubio said that despite surrendering the car, the owners will still face charges for violating Section 1401 in relation to Section 1113 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).