BOC claims suing 40 importers, brokers for smuggling

But non-disclosure of identity left media, public blindsided; only 4 convictions out of 250 cases filed in last 4 years

On Feb 19, 2026

Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno. 14 smuggling cases involving 40 individuals have been filed by the BOC since his assumption in July 2025.

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) released a statement on February 17 stating it has filed a total of 14 cases for smuggling at the Department of Justice (DOJ) involving 40 importers, their representatives and licensed customs brokers since the assumption of Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno in July 2025.

“The cases involve unlawful importation activities, including technical smuggling, misdeclaration, and undervaluation of goods, aimed at evading the correct payment of duties and taxes,” the bureau said.

Significantly, however, the bureau continues to hide the identities of the accused, leaving the public clueless, the media blindsided, and raising suspicion of “backroom deals” that resulted to many of these cases being dismissed as borne by official records released by the Senate.

Port of Subic Chief of Assessment Joey San Andres, cited in contempt by the Senate last December for “lying” on smuggling activities at the port (photo grabbed during Senate hearing).

The release of the identities of criminal suspects is among the exemptions provided under Section 4 of RA 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 but many government agencies, Customs included, continue to withhold the identities of those charged with smuggling.

In its statement, the BOC also noted that four convictions were handed down by the courts during the term of Commissioner Nepomuceno “arising from smuggling cases filed in previous years.”

Despite this, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform chaired by Sen. Francis Pangilinan is not satisfied with the result.

Transcripts from his committee’s investigation last September 2025 showed the four convictions were out of the 250 smuggling complaints filed by the BOC before the DOJ between July 2022 and November 2024, during the terms of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz and Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio.

The convictions is equivalent to only 1.6 percent of the total complaints filed after four years of trial.

Majority of the complaints, the probe discovered, resulted to dismissal with the BOC being blamed by DOJ prosecutors for allegedly submitting insufficient evidence such as unauthenticated import documents.

In the case of agricultural products smuggling, Pangilinan bewailed that although billions of pesos worth of smuggled agri goods have been confiscated and cases have been filed, not one smuggler has actually gone into jail up to now.