e. Customs Search

Customs Search

Concept

A customs search is an inspection connected with the government’s authority to control goods entering or leaving the country and to prevent smuggling. At the border, travelers and goods have a reduced expectation of privacy. This does not mean that every search described as a customs search is automatically valid. (Veridiano v. People, G.R. No. 200370, 7 June 2017)¹ (Republic Act No. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act))

Governing provisions

Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) governs customs control and the exercise of customs police authority. The older Tariff and Customs Code provisions concerning obstruction of customs premises, special surveillance, and persons having police authority are not a complete statement of present customs-search powers. (1987 Constitution, Article III, Section 2) (Republic Act No. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act)) (Sec. 2201, Rep. Act No. 1937)² (Sec. 2202, Rep. Act No. 1937)³ (Sec. 2203, Rep. Act No. 1937)⁴

Requisites / Rules

• Identify the customs purpose and setting: whether the inspection concerns a traveler, baggage, cargo, or conveyance entering or leaving the country, rather than an ordinary police search merely labeled a customs operation. (Veridiano v. People)¹ (Republic Act No. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act))
• Identify the officer’s legal authority and the scope of the inspection. Customs police authority comes from statute; the asserted customs purpose does not give an officer unlimited power to search persons or property. (Sec. 2203, Rep. Act No. 1937)⁴ (Republic Act No. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act)) (1987 Constitution, Article III, Section 2)
• Assess reasonableness in context. The reduced expectation of privacy at the border helps explain a routine customs inspection, but does not dispense with constitutional scrutiny of the manner and extent of a more intrusive search. (Veridiano v. People)¹ (1987 Constitution, Article III, Section 2)

Distinctions

Do not import the probable-cause test for an extensive warrantless search of an ordinary moving vehicle into every border inspection. Conversely, the fact that a vehicle or passenger has traveled does not, by itself, establish a border-search setting. Apply the justification supported by the facts. (People v. Macarona, G.R. No. 242017, 6 October 2021)⁵ (Veridiano v. People)¹

Key doctrines

Veridiano v. People recognized the reduced expectation of privacy in border searches but expressly did not decide the case as a border search. It therefore cannot be cited as blanket approval of a search conducted away from that setting. Evidence obtained through an unconstitutional search is inadmissible. (Veridiano v. People)¹ (1987 Constitution, Article III, Section 3(2))

Bar tip

Start with the place, the goods, the customs purpose, and the officer’s authority. Then test the actual scope of the search; do not rely on the label “customs search” alone. (Veridiano v. People)¹ (Republic Act No. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act))