DOJ indicts claimant of P218 million worth of shabu nabbed in NAIA

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended the filing of charges against an individual who is a consignee of a shipment that contained shabu worth P218,484,000.

In a press release on Monday, the DOJ said that it indicted Christine Tigranes, the claimant of the shipment that contained 31 kilograms of shabu, for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act and Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

Tigranes was caught by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group on April 17 after the shipment arrived at the NAIA Complex in Pasay City.

According to the DOJ, the packages were declared as “machine mufflers” shipped by a certain Isaac Chikore from Zimbabwe. 

The said packages were alerted by NAIA’s X-ray Inspection Project Section due to a suspicious image. It was then subjected to physical examination.

The parcels were four brown cartons wrapped in plastic which, when opened, revealed four metal machinery mufflers.

Each of the mufflers, according to the DOJ, contained a transparent plastic containing another transparent plastic with white crystalline substances which turned out to be shabu.

The contrabands were seized and immediately turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s Laboratory Service for examination.

The crystalline substances turned out to have a presence of methamphetamine hydrochloride, the scientific name of crystallized shabu, with a total net weight of 31,763 grams, according to the DOJ.

As of writing, the DOJ has yet to provide any details on when and where the case against Tigranes will be filed.