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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider PDEA identifying cohorts of South African held for P120-M shabu in Cebu

PDEA identifying cohorts of South African held for P120-M shabu in Cebu

Published Feb 9, 2023 02:43 pm

CEBU CITY – The South African caught trying to sneak in suspected shabu at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) did not act alone and had local contacts, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Central Visayas (PDEA-7) said Thursday, Feb. 9.

MONTALLANA (FB)

PDEA-7 Director Jigger Montallana said a backtracking investigation is ongoing to identify the possible cohorts of Pietro Aliquo who arrived in Cebu from Doha, Qatar on Wednesday night, Feb. 1.

Aliquo was arrested after at least 17 kilos of shabu worth P120 million were found stuffed in his luggage when he arrived at MCIA.

The illegal drugs were discovered while the luggage was subjected to a routine check-up using the airport’s X-ray machine.

“We cannot divulge further details to avoid preempting the investigation but the suspect is just the courier. For sure he has local contacts because someone had to facilitate his travel and book his hotel accommodation,” Montallana said.

Montallana said the information that there will be an attempt to sneak in shabu into Cebu came from the US government.

The illegal drugs came from Johannesburg, South Africa, Montellana said.

“Good thing we were able to intercept the illegal drugs upon its arrival. It would have been more difficult to track down the illegal drugs if the suspect was able to distribute it to the intended recipient before the apprehension,” said Montallana.

Related Tags

arrest airport SHABU PDEA cebu MCIA south african
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