The smuggling attempt unraveled last week when a cargo forwarding firm UPS notified the BOC-NAIA about a substance contained inside a large table clock packaged to be sent to Italy.
BOC-NAIA District Collector Celso Templo, together with other Customs officials, proceeded to the UPS warehouse at the NAIA on Oct. 2 to verify information relayed by UPS.
Two packets of shabu, weighing 50 grams each, were found inside the clock.
The parcel contained one table cloth and the plastic table clock.
The parcel, with Airway Bill No. 12A67005GG-42534501, was consigned to a certain Villipa Nalge of Italy. The shipper was identified as Editha Faustina of 11 Sta. Ana Phase 1B, Pacita Village, San Pedro, Laguna.
Another person, identified as Eduardo Silva, signed the invoice at UPS.
On Oct. 4, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Customs police conducted a joint operation to verify the address given by the shipper.
Upon verification, authorities found out that the address existed, but the shipper did not.
The cargo forwarder then asked the shipper to claim his package for reimbursement because it could not be delivered due to "unavoidable circumstances."
When Silva showed up at the warehouse on Oct. 6, he was arrested by PDEA agents. – With AFP