Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 9) – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) exceeded its revenue collection target in 2023 by over ₱9 billion, the agency said Monday.

Since January 2023, it collected a total of ₱883.624 billion, about ₱9.459 billion or 1.08% higher than its target of ₱874.166 billion for the year.

The BOC’s revenue this year represents a 2.46% increase or about ₱21.205 billion compared with its 2022 income of ₱862.419 billion.

Of this year’s revenue, ₱164.503 million came from the sale of forfeited goods through public auctions throughout 2023, according to the BOC.

Meanwhile, the BOC said that it filed 90 criminal cases before the Department of Justice in 2023. It said 60 of these are related to agricultural smuggling and among these, 56 are large-scale cases.

It seized ₱43.295 billion worth of smuggled commodities throughout the year.