A South African national was intercepted at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after authorities discovered he was allegedly hiding six kilos of suspected shabu worth over P40 million in his backpack.
The 64-year-old suspect arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 on Monday morning.
Upon inspection, his black backpack was found to contain 6.006 kilos of suspected shabu, concealed in improvised boxes wrapped with plastic and duct tape. The contraband was seized at the Customs Exclusion Room in the Terminal 3 Customs International Arrival Area.
The interdiction operation was led by the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Metro Manila office, Bureau of Customs (BOC), Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Authorities also confiscated the suspect’s travel documents, identification cards, mobile phones, assorted personal belongings, and foreign currencies. The suspected shabu will be submitted to the PDEA Laboratory Service for confirmatory testing.
The foreign national is now in custody and will face inquest proceedings for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, for the importation of dangerous drugs.
