About 10 cooked soft-shell turtles, mixed with pieces of fried catfish, were abandoned by two departing Chinese passengers at the final X-ray check-in of Bay 2 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The Chinese passengers were bound for Guangzhou, China on board China Southern Airlines, which left at about 8 a.m. yesterday.
When it became imminent that the illegal items would be seized just prior to boarding, they abandoned the turtle meat, considered a delicacy in China.
Teddy Agir, wildlife officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the turtle meat, which was inside a handbag, was turned over to him by a civilian checker.
He was told that two passengers apparently panicked when the bag was about to be checked again as they boarded the plane. Agir told the checker that the act of leaving behind a piece of luggage is already a sign that should have alerted the aviation security personnel to detain the concerned passengers.
Aviation police said the banned items were initially subjected to X-ray at the airport’s entrance, but the women told airport personnel that they had food with them. – Rudy Santos