Indonesian drug mule nabbed at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - Customs personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 arrested an Indonesian woman on Saturday after being caught trying to sneak in some 8.7 kilos of cocaine in a false bottom of her luggage.

The Indonesian identified as Dwi Wulandari was caught by airport Customs police trying to smuggle in some P50 million worth of hard molded cocaine that looked like biscuits in carbon paper.

Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-NAIA head Verne Enciso said Wulandari arrived from Doha, Qatar at 4 p.m. on Saturday aboard Emirates flight EK-332.

She previously went to China, Brazil, Peru and Dubai before landing at NAIA, he said.

Enciso said Wulandari claimed her luggage was switched in Peru.

“Dwi Wulandari was examined by Customs examiner Frieda Corazon Malvar. Malvar suspected the (Indonesian) when she profiled her customs declaration and saw she declared that she will be staying in Shangri-La hotel which didn’t fit her declared occupation as a domestic helper,” Enciso said.

Wulandari was earlier confronted by Customs policemen because of her heavy baggage.

“I asked her if she has something to declare, she said ‘none’ but my instinct told me to knock parts of her luggage and so I did, they sounded different,” Malvar added.

“I asked her to open her luggage. At first, I felt something unusual inside her luggage, I found small pieces like hard brownish biscuits scattered inside with carbon paper all around the luggage maybe to avoid x-ray detection,” she said.

The seized “biscuits” were later confirmed to be cocaine by a chemist from Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Enciso said.

Wulandari spoke in English and claimed she met someone outside Peru airport who offered a dark grey luggage she could use.

“I inspected the luggage (bag) and it (was) empty so I put my belongings inside and proceeded to airline check-in counter to check-in my luggage,” she said

Wulandari said she was then told someone would pick her up upon arrival at the airport and bring her to Shangri-La hotel where she will be billeted.

Officials suspected Wulandari was used as a drug mule, pointing out her itineraries which indicated she came from Indonesia, then proceeded to China, Peru, Brazil to Dubai and her final destination Manila where she was to stay until Oct. 5, 2012. – With Helen Flores