Authorities have intercepted smuggled shipments of party drugs “ecstasy” worth P15.5 million at the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City.
The three parcels from the Netherlands containing 9,160 tablets were misdeclared as clothes and shoes.
The Bureau of Customs – Ninoy Aquino International Airport did not identify the owner but they said the shipments were consigned to a resident in Dasmarinas City in Cavite.
The Customs men were able to intercept the shipments with the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and NAIA Inter-agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.
“The seized illegal drugs concealed in three parcels declared as clothes and shoes were discovered through the intensified profiling and examination conducted by Customs personnel despite being surreptitiously hidden in-between spaces of the box containing the subject parcels,” said NAIA district collector Carmelita Talusan.
“After full inventory, a total of 9,160 ecstacy tablets with an estimated market value of P15.572 million were seized,” she added.
On Thursday, Talusan’s office turned over to PDEA the seized illegal drugs for further investigation and case build-up against personalities involved in the latest smuggling attempt.
The bureau stated that the owner and the co-conspirators will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Drugs Act) as well as RA 10863, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. Talusan said the Port of NAIA has consistently been at the forefront of the country’s border protection efforts against illegal drugs.
Records disclosed that the NAIA had a total of 30 drug busts for 2018, 31 for 2019, and 43 for 2020.
The latest seizure was the 55th drug bust made by the Port of NAIA for this year. The majority of illegal drugs seized were ecstacy and shabu.
“With the strengthened coordination between BOC and PDEA, our port continues to implement the directives of Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to protect the nations borders from the entry of illegal drugs,” said Talusan.
