Government agents assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have seized a parcel allegedly containing shabu worth more than P3.4 million at the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City.
The operation conducted by elements of the X-Ray Inspection Project, the Port of NAIA, and the Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, also resulted in the arrest of the shipment’s consignee last Thursday.
The package arrived on March 20 from New Delhi, India and was declared as “Universal Engine.”
However, Customs X-ray inspectors detected suspicious images inside the shipment.
Import documents stated that the parcel came from Dewajani Pal of Dawarka Sec-7 Ramphal Chowls Palamer, New Delhi and consigned to a certain Ashley C. Alonzo of Krus na Ligas, Quezon City.
“Throughout the examination, the subject shipment was found to contain four packs of white crystalline substances (wrapped using blue carbon paper and tape), concealed inside the cylindrical aluminum receptacle labelled as “Universal Engine”, the Port of NAIA stated in its report.
It added that the “seized substances weighed more or less 514 grams with an estimated street value of P3,495,200.”
PDEA personnel conducted a field test and confirmed the shipment contained methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu.
The consignee was arrested for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Drug Act, and RA 10863 also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).