SHABU SHIPMENT. Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe (in white shirt) observes as two Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives conduct an inventory of the PHP3.4 million shabu shipment seized Monday (Aug. 9, 2022) at the Zamboanga International Airport in Zamboanga City. The shabu shipment came from Maluso, Basilan, and was bound to Philcoa, Quezon City. (Photo lifted from the Facebook account of Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities have intercepted a shipment of some PHP3.4 million worth of illegal drugs at the Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA), the top Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) official here said Tuesday.
Emerson Margate, PDEA-Zamboanga Peninsula director, said the suspected shabu was intercepted around 4:50 p.m. Monday at the ZIA cargo section through the aid of a PDEA K9 unit.
Margate said the cargo personnel became suspicious of the content of a parcel when subjected to x-ray inspection at the airport.
He said the parcel was wrapped in self-sealing transparent cellophane placed inside a plastic container filled with toasted coconut powder and packed in a box.
The substance, weighing some 500 grams, was shipped through a courier firm from Maluso, Basilan, and bound for Quezon City.
Margate said the receipt indicated the sender as Farhana Maddih, and the supposed consignee as Dayana Ismael of Philcoa, Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
He said they will ascertain whether the names of the shipper and consignee are genuine or just aliases.
The shabu shipment was the second to be intercepted at ZIA this year. On July 5, authorities also managed to seize some PHP442,000 worth of shabu at the airport. (PNA)
