Duterte Oversees Destruction of Smuggled Vehicles in Port Irene, Cagayan

The Philippine government is continuing its drive against smuggling as no less than President Rodrigo Duterte supervised the destruction of more than a quarter of a billion pesos worth of illegally-imported vehicles in the Cagayan Freeport. Duterte traveled all the way to Port Irene in Santa Ana, Cagayan and oversaw the destruction of 68 luxury cars--estimated to have a total overall value of PHP277 million as of 2014--and eight motorcycles with an estimated value of PHP19 million, also as of 2014. Some of the vehicles that were ran over and flattened by a backhoe and bulldozer are a Lamborghini Gallardo, some Porsche 911s and BMW M5s of various vintage and a few Harley-Davidson and Triumph motorcycles. Joining Duterte in the destruction of the smuggled vehicles were Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Raul Lambino. According to the Cagayan Provincial Information Office, this latest round of destruction of smuggled vehicles is the second with over 800 contraband vehicles having already been destroyed after they were discovered to have been brought illegally into the CEZA during the previous administrations. This latest action is also the third such action overseen by Duterte this year in his government's drive against smuggled vehicles, with the first one happening in February in the ports of Manila, Cebu, and Davao, and the second one happening in June also in Manila and Cebu. [gallery size="vw_two_third_thumbnail_no_crop" ids="37015,37029,37023,37026,37027,37017,37020,37012,37014,37006,37007,37018,37021,37008,37009,37010,37024,37019">