THE Bureau of Customs yesterday ordered the seizure of some P50 million worth of assorted counterfeit footwear and poor imitations of a popular audio equipment brand.

Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, in a factsheet, said that the attempted smuggling of China-made fake Havainas, Nike and other leading footwear brands as well as Konzert speakers and amplifiers was detected and foiled by the Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS).

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He said the confiscated shipments were mis-declared as ordinary footwear and as low-end audio equipment, adding that the smuggled goods were subjected to thorough examination on the strength of an alert order issued by CIIS director Filomeno Vicencio Jr.

Alvarez, who also ordered the immediate destruction of the confiscated items, noted that the seizure came in the heels of the destruction by the BOC of some P300 million worth of fake energizer batteries, Louis Vuitton, Channel, Gucci, Lacoste, Breitling and Nike.

"This latest accomplishment of the Bureau's IPRD should serve as a stern warning to smugglers that our agency is determined to make counterfeiting and piracy unprofitable," he stressed as he lauded the IPRD and CIIS "for their unbroken determination to rid the country of the stigma of being referred to as dumping ground for fake goods."