BOC crackdown hits online store Kimstore for suspected smuggled items

One of the most popular online gadget store in the Philippines is under a lot of pressure from no other than the Bureau of Customs (BOC). The BOC raided Kimstore’s warehouse in Tondo Manila Philippines last January 30. Seized items inside the warehouse were believed to be smuggled good which are mainly high-end electronic devices ranging from smartphones, tablets, cameras, audio equipment and other gadgets in which the online store were specializing.

“Among the items seized were units of Iphone 7 cellular phones, Macbook laptops, Samsung Galaxy S7 series phones, Nexus 6Ps phones, Zenfone 3 Ultra phones, Sony Xperia phones, Canon cameras, tablets and music players, audio accessories, and gadgets for safety and security,” – BOC

Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Neil L. Estrella of the BOC said:
There are plenty of cases wherein high-end communication and electronic gadgets are smuggled into the country through misdeclaration schemes a top form of smuggling used by smugglers to defraud and avoid paying correct duties and taxes to the government,”

During the raid, Kimstore staff at the scene failed to present the necessary documents for the imported items which prompted the team to padlocked the warehouse with all the seized goods inside and has been guarded by CIIS agents.

Intelligence Officer Joel Pinawin of CIIS added that with the ongoing investigation, they are still validating intelligence report pointing to the real owners of Kimstore with an initial information pointing to a certain “Francis” – a Filipino-Chinese businessman from Binondo who engaged with such smuggling transactions. More will be revealed by Officer Pinawin in the coming days.

With disregard to the claims of the online community, Kimstore’s website https://kimstore.com.ph is still up and running with undetermined downtime every now and then. Let’s keep an eye of the developments on the matter as I am also (admittedly) a fan of their service given that their items are somewhat cheaper from most out there in the market.