On Friday, the BOC (Bureau of Customs) simultaneously destroyed seven luxury vehicles, including a McLaren 620R Supercar at Port Area, Manila, locally valued at P33 million.

The agency, in a statement, said that the vehicles had been shipped into the country through different consignees and were seized on separate occasions between 2018 and 2020.

A tweet by Raffy Tima of GMA News states that customs officials inspected the vehicles before the wrecking event at the agency’s headquarters.

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The Impounded McLaren 620R has a 3.8 –Liter Twin Turbo V8 Engine

At Port Area Manila, the Bureau of Customs destroyed seven luxury cars, including a McLaren 620R, 2007 Bentley Continental GT, Hyundai Genesis, Porsche 911 C2S, Lotus, Mercedes Benz, and a Toyota Solara. According to Customs, the luxury vehicles were brought in from the Manila International Container Port, Port of Subic, and Port of Manila.

The McLaren 620R in question comes with a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine making a staggering 612 hp and 620 lb. ft of torque. The McLaren shipment arrived in July 2019 and was declared as a Porsche Cayman. The authorities believe this was a plot to evade taxes and duties. The McLaren is estimated to be worth P33 million locally, with duties amounting to more than P16.7 million.

While this was happening, fourteen used Mitsubishi Jeeps were also being destroyed at the Cagayan de Oro Port.

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The car enthusiast community isn’t taking this news well. The McLaren 620R that was destroyed is a rare supercar with only 350 units produced in the entire world. In the Facebook comment section of the post, commenters criticized the move, suggesting that the cars should have been auctioned instead. That way, customs wins, and the smugglers lose.

On the other hand, the BOC said that rather than auction the luxury cars, they stood a much better chance of getting revenue from the smugglers if they were deterred from their activities once they see what happened to their shipment.

The Luxury Car Bust was a 2017 Presidential Directive

BOC -Smuggled Cars
Photo: Facebook Screenshot

The Bureau says the bust was a 2017 Presidential Directive that ordered the disposition of smuggled vehicles through public condemnation. This helps prevent smugglers from getting their imports through bidding at the auction.

It’s not the first time the BOC has destroyed cars. Seventeen cars were also destroyed in February 2021.

The luxury cars worth millions of dollars were all crashed within 30 minutes. It’s unclear what charges the consignee and broker are facing, but according to BOC, they will be charged under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

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