Authorities on Wednesday seized a Bugatti Chiron believed to have been smuggled in the Philippines.

The blue luxury sports car with license plate NIM 5448 was found on Tuesday in an upmarket gated neighbourhood in Muntinlupa City in Manila following a joint operation of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIIS) Service and National Bureau of Investigation.

The vehicle's owner, a foreign national who was not named in reports, surrendered the car to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on February 21.

CIIS Port of Manila Chief Joel Pinawin said the owner had initially told officers the car had already been sold off, but could not produce a deed of sale.

He later agreed to surrender the Bugatti, which was still in his possession, after negotiations.

The car was loaded onto a truck and transported to the BOC Port of Manila Office.

BOC Commissioner Bien Rubio said in a statement: 'Today, we are happy to report that the blue Bugatti sports car we've been looking for was finally surrendered to the BOC.

'The fact that the mission took barely three weeks speaks of the hard work and commitment we put into this since we appealed to the public to help us find these motor vehicles.'

Authorities said the owner will still face charges for allegedly violating the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

The blue Bugatti is one of two luxury vehicles believed to have been smuggled into the Philippines without proper taxes and importation documents.

The other car, a red Bugatti, was surrendered to the BOC on February 9.

The investigations were launched after Senator Raffy Tulfo disclosed in a privilege speech that the two cars had been registered with the Land Transportation Office using fake documents.

The politician claimed that the red Bugatti with license plate NIM 5450 was owned by Chinese national Meng Jun Zhu, while the blue Bugatti was registered under a certain Thu Trang Nguyen.

Both cars were estimated to be worth around PHP165 million (around $2.95 million).

The BOC said investigations are underway to determine how the cars were registered without proper documents.