10 kilos shabu seized at NAIA

Customs officers arrested three Indonesian women suspected of being drug couriers of an international drug syndicate after almost 10 kilos of high-grade shabu were found in their luggage upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Sunday evening.

Bureau of Customs-NAIA District Collector Celso Templo identified the passengers, all Indonesian nationals, as Khoe Hong Gek, 46, with passport number N111346; Heravaty Ng, 50, with passport number M253251; and Maimun Wagimin, 42, with passport number K125272.

The Indonesians arrived at the NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 at 7:10 p.m. last Sunday on board Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR-307 from Hong Kong.

Seized were some 9.75 kilos of high-grade shabu with a street value of at least P10 million.

The illegal drugs were packed inside 24 plastic bags. The plastic bags were hidden in the pockets of folded pants inside three pieces of check-in luggage belonging to the suspects.

All three suspects and the confiscated shabu were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday.

Authorities are scheduled to file criminal charges against the three women.

In an interview, lawyer Romeo Sarte, Customs in-bond chief detailed at the NAIA, said that last May 5, the three Indonesians arrived in Hong Kong on board a Garuda Airlines flight from Jakarta, Indonesia.

From Hong Kong, the Indonesians purchased, through an electronic transaction, the PAL tickets to Manila, Sarte said.

He said that based on their passports, the three suspects have been traveling to the Philippines since 1998, about three times a year.

The suspects were in Manila just last April, Sarte added.

PDEA officials, for their part, said they are now investigating the extent of the drug operations of the three suspects.