The Bureau of Customs raided today a warehouse in Binondo, Manila suspected of being used as storage of smuggled goods and allegedly being maintained by persons supplying counterfeit goods to stall owners at the 168, 999 and 1159 Malls.

The raid conducted based on Letter of Authority issued by Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez yielded a rich harvest of fake branded merchandise that included bags and wallets that carried high-end labels such as Lacoste, The North Face, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Adidas and Gucci.

Alvarez who took part in the raid said the confiscated items had a combined value of at least P300 million.

The warehouse is located at the 4th Floor of ACLEM Building in Binondo. It is allegedly being leased to and occupied by one Gou Jing Wun whose nationality is yet to be determined.

The raiding team found copies of invoices and delivery receipts that would possibly establish the business link of the warehouse owners with the tenants of the three malls.

Zsae de Guzman, chief of BOC’s Intellectual Property Rights Division said the successful raid was the product of the BOC’s good intelligence work and coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation.

Alvarez ordered CIIS director Filomeno Vicencio, Jr. to conduct an investigation on how the smuggled goods got out of customs and to start the process of identifying the consignees and their accomplices at the BOC.

The customs chief also said that the confiscated items would be destroyed immediately after the completion of forfeiture proceedings.