Mail-order shabu owner hunted

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and PhilPost Inspection Service have launched pursuit operations against the owner of high-grade marijuana sent through the Quezon City Post Office from the United States last week.

Alvin Enciso, chief of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Postal Unit, said they are looking into the possibility that the confiscation of the drugs was only the “tip of the iceberg.”

“We are under instructions from Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, Intelligence Group Deputy Commissioner Gen. Danny Lim and CIIS Director Fernadino Tuason to get to the bottom of the matter as this may be linked to a bigger drug operation. The cooperation among the PDEA, the BOC and the Philpost Inspection Service seeks to make sure that we cover all bases,” Enciso said.

The Customs-CIIS unit seized early last week an envelope which contained eight pouches, each with a different kind of high-grade marijuana, with an estimated street value of P123,600.

Enciso said Jonathan Matthews sent the package, misdeclared as Valentine clothes, from Washington to a certain Thelma Murillo.

“When a representative of the consignee arrived to claim the parcel, the group of Director Tuason was already at the scene to make the arrest,” Enciso said.

Rosalyn Lipura, who claimed the package, said she has no knowledge about its contents.

Follow-up operations led authorities to the company of the consignee’s family in Valenzuela but the consignee was not present at that time.

“It was also learned that Thelma Murillo was only a fictitious name, ” Enciso said.