BOC-NAIA seizes deer horns, skulls from New Zealand passenger

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (BOC-NAIA) confiscated three pieces of deer horn with skull and two pieces of deer skins, without the necessary import permit, placed in the check-in luggage of a New Zealand passenger at the NAIA Terminal 3 on 6 February 2024.

The passenger came from Guangzhou, China, on board China Southern Airlines flight CZ3091.

The said illegally imported wildlife parts were discovered by BOC officers through an X-ray scanning before they were loaded onto the baggage conveyor and marked with a big X for rigid inspection.

Customs NAIA district collector, Atty. Yasmin Mapa, said that the imported wildlife parts were seized after the passenger, whom they did not identify, failed to produce an import permit from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which violated Republic Act No. 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). The said items were turned over to BAI officials.

Mapa said the bureau is in strict coordination with other government regulatory agencies and continues to implement importation rules against illegal wildlife trafficking.