The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) around P10 million worth of illegal drugs seized in separate occasions in a warehouse at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
BOC on April 27 turned over approximately 2.06 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, and 127.60 grams of Kush weeds, a high-grade strand of marijuana, seized by BOC-NAIA.
The illegal drugs were sent together with toys and sent separately by different senders although both originated in California, USA.
The packages were consigned to a certain Savannah Valdez of General Trias, Cavite, and a certain Emmer Soncruz Medina of Quezon City, arriving last March 23 and April 18, respectively.
Both packages underwent risk assessment by a customs examiner and showed suspicious images during x-ray inspection. The packages yielded unbranded, colorless crystalline substance, which when subjected to an initial drug test by the Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force resulted positive for methamphetamine.
Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña, in a press briefing during the turn-over, said BOC is investigating the possibility that drug smugglers are using other countries and methods as diversionary tactic in importing illegal drugs into the country. He said it’s also possible that smugglers just “think that they can get these items through” concealed in packages sent via airfreight.
Lapeña, in an interview with PortCalls after the turn-over, said BOC is adopting measures, including deploying more x-ray machines and training staff in profiling, to make sure the growing e-commerce trade is not used by individuals to smuggle contraband through parcels and small packages.
Lapeña acknowledged that BOC still needs to do more and increase personnel to augment the number of examiners in the country’s airports.
