ANTI-DRUG OPS. Authorities arrested on Friday night (Oct. 30, 2020) in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija two Chinese nationals who reportedly received a cargo shipment containing some PHP1.6 billion worth of shabu. Agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (BOC-NAIA), and NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, in a joint operation, nabbed the suspects in Barangay Sumacab Sur, Cabanatuan City. (Photo courtesy of BOC)
CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – Authorities arrested on Friday night here two Chinese nationals who reportedly received a cargo shipment containing some 240 kilos of suspected shabu worth PHP1.6 billion.
Agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (BOC-NAIA), and NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, in a joint operation, nabbed the two suspects in Barangay Sumacab Sur here at around 11:30 p.m.
Based on the statement of the BOC, the cargo arrived at the PAL-PSI warehouse which is near NAIA terminal 1 on Oct. 24.
Records show that the cargo was declared as “work, bench, tables”, shipped by a certain Ywlee 87 Trading of Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, and consigned to a certain company "Allejam International Trading" of the City of Manila.
Through intensified surveillance of BOC-NAIA, in close coordination with PDEA, the misdeclared cargo was subjected to X-ray scanning and 100 percent physical examination and was found to contain shabu.
The Customs team and PDEA tracked the recipients of the cargo that resulted in the arrest of Jayson Tan and James Ong.
The BOC-NAIA formally turned over the seized illegal drugs to the PDEA for further profiling and case build-up against the importers and other responsible persons, and inquest of apprehended claimants for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 in relation to Section 1401 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Last December 2019, BOC NAIA, in coordination with PDEA and NAIA, also intercepted 20.8 kilos of shabu worth PHP141.44 million concealed inside two speakers, one of the largest seizures of illegal drugs in NAIA.
Since January 2020, the active partnership between PDEA and NAIA-IADITG has already resulted in the interception of 42 different shipments of illegal drugs. (PNA)
