GOVERNMENT agents have seized a shabu shipment worth more than P21 million found abandoned in a lounge now under renovation at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Terminal 1.
In Cebu City, a drug suspect from San Pablo, Laguna was arrested in a buy-bust operation in an uptown village here Monday night and yielded 10 kilograms of shabu valued at P68 million.
A special team was tapped to investigate and identify the owner of the illegal substance discovered inside a cabinet at the old Club Manila Spa and Passengers Lounge being renovated at the 4th floor departure area of the terminal.
The team will also aims to determine how the illegal drugs got into the terminal.
Initial investigation conducted by the Airport Police showed that a construction worker found the package while demolishing the old cabinet of the massage parlor around 2:30 a.m. Friday.
The 3,180 grams of shabu with a street value of P21.62 million was contained in an improvised pouch.
Airport authorities have heightened vigilance in the campaign against illegal drug trafficking in a bid to discourage international drug syndicates from using the Philippines as a transshipment point for their nefarious trade..
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, and shabu are among the top narcotics being smuggled into the country, mostly by Chinese, Taiwanese, and Mexican drug syndicates.
Maj. Jomar Dela Cerna, chief of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit-Central Visayas based in Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr., said the 30-year-old male suspect has a condominium unit registered under his name in this city.
The suspect would stay here for a week before going back to Luzon, according to Dela Cerna.
“The suspect is a high-value individual for his ability to dispose of kilos of shabu,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
The police coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas to place the suspect under surveillance.
The still unidentified suspect was nabbed in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Kasambagan in Cebu City.
Records showed he was arrested, also for a drug case, sometime in June last year, but availed himself of a plea-bargaining agreement.
“We have on-going operations because he mentioned some persons during the custodial debriefing,” Police Regional Office 7 spokesman Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare told reporters.