Joint customs and anti-illegal drugs agents have arrested two claimants of a package containing P9.5 million worth of the party drug known as "Ecstasy" during a controlled delivery in Quezon City.
Information coming from the Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) revealed that 5,637 tablets of Ecstasy were found concealed inside a foot spa machine that was in the package.
The controlled delivery was carried out by elements of BOC-NAIA, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and the NAIA Inter-agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (IADITG) on Monday, July 12 at the Philpost Office in Quezon City.
The illegal drugs had an estimated street value of P9,582,900.
Records show that the package arrived in NAIA, Pasay City last June 28, 2021 from Neuss, Germany. It was declared to contain "childrens toys, somer sandals, bag, socks, pants, rain boots, and birthday stock."
However, x-ray scanning by the X-ray Inspection Project (XIP NAIA) and sniffing by K-9 units on the package showed the contents to be somewhat suspicious.
Upon 100 percent physical examination conducted by the customs examiner, the package was found to contain the Ecstasy tablets, which had been classified as a dangerous drug under Republic Act (RA) No.9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
In order to find out where the narcotics were headed to locally, the authorities went ahead with the controlled delivery. The claimants were not identified.
The duo is now being investigated for possible violation of RA No.9165; as well as Sections 1400 and 1401, in relation to Section 119 of RA No.10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
The BOC under the leadership of Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, and the Port of NAIA headed by District Collector Carmelita M. Talusan remain steadfast in its mandate of strengthening border protection and enforcement in the country’s premier airport.