1 of 2 ‘viral’ sports cars found in Ayala Alabang
One of two luxury sports cars that had gone viral after being spotted speeding along Metro Manila’s roads was found in exclusive Ayala Alabang village in Muntinlupa, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported yesterday.
Personnel of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) based at the Manila International Container Port recovered a red Bugatti Chiron 2023 model sports car with license plate NIM5450 in a house yesterday after receiving surrender feelers, the agency said.
The car’s alleged owner, Thu Thrang Nguyen, was not present when the vehicle was recovered. The foreigner faces charges of violating Section 1400 in relation to Section 1113 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act despite surrendering the car.
Nguyen’s luxury vehicle and a blue Bugatti Chiron 2023 model sports car with license plate NIM5448, owned by Menguin Zhu, became viral on social media after these were seen traversing roads in Pasay, Pasig, Muntinlupa and Cavite, according to the BOC.
After the images became viral, it became “harder for the owners to drive these anywhere,” BOC deputy commissioner for Intelligence Group Juvymax Uy said.
The Land Transportation Office reported that the sports cars were “given registration papers despite not having the proper importation documents,” according to BOCCIIS director Verne Enciso.
The BOC has been investigating the entry of the vehicles, which allegedly cost around P165 million each, since November last year. Importers should have paid taxes worth almost the value of the cars, according to BOC spokesman Vincent Philip Maronilla.