Arrest of drug couriers highlights security lapses at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines – The arrest this month of two Filipinos caught smuggling heroin into China has put the spotlight on security lapses at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Chairman Vicente Sotto III of the Dangerous Drugs Board said he had alerted airport security on the possibility that an airport employee had helped these drug couriers.

It is alarming that they were able to pass through airport security without being detected and stopped, he added.

Sotto said these drug couriers flew directly to China from Manila, unlike others who had to transit via third countries.

Sixty-nine Filipinos, most of them women, have been arrested in various airports in China since January for trying to smuggle illegal drugs, he added.

Sotto said he would seek a review of security and inspection procedures at NAIA and international airlines operating in the country.

“We have to impose stricter security and inspection procedures to make sure prohibited drugs will not leave or enter the country through the country’s airports,” he said.

Sotto said a 33-year-old Filipina was arrested at Shanghai International Airport last Tuesday night after packs of heroin were found in her hand-carried baggage.

The heroin packs were hidden in five pairs of shoes inside her baggage, he added.

Last Sept. 15, a 25-year-old Filipino was also arrested at Shanghai airport after he was caught trying to smuggle 1.2 kilograms of heroin, he said.

Sotto withheld the names of the two suspected drug couriers.

Sotto said of the 69 arrested Filipinos, 24 were caught bringing suitcases that contained dangerous drugs.

They were either recruited directly or indirectly by Nigerians, he added.

Sotto said eight of the Filipinos concealed dangerous drugs in their bodies and the remaining 37 tried to smuggle drugs by other means.

All arrested Filipinos reportedly pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, he added.

Sotto said seven of them have already been convicted and sentenced to death by lower courts.

Most of them were arrested from January to July at airports of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing after flying to China from Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia, he added.

Two jailed Filipinas in China were deported last August for humanitarian reasons after they were found to be pregnant, Sotto said. – With Delon Porcalla