P121-million shabu seized at NAIA in 14 days

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) seized 24.2 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu with an estimated street value of P121 million in 14 days.

PDEA director general Jose Gutierrez Jr. said at least eight suspected couriers of an African drug syndicate have been arrested since the start of this year.

Customs Task Force on Dangerous Drugs and Controlled Chemicals head Sherwin Andrada expressed concern that the Philippines has become a dumping ground of illegal drugs especially shabu coming from African syndicates.

At least P45 million worth of shabu were seized from a Guinea national and a Ghanaian couple arrested at NAIA last Tuesday.

 Joseph Yaw Kyeremteng and Hamshaw Sulemans arrived on board an Etihad Airways flight Tuesday night. Their luggage contained about eight kilograms of shabu.

Camara Aicha, a Guinea national, was also apprehended after two kilograms of shabu were found in her luggage. Aicha arrived from an Etihad Airways flight from Morocco via Abu Dhabi Tuesday noon. 

The arrested foreign nationals will be charged for importation, transportation, and possession of dangerous drugs in violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Gutierrez said they have reason to believe that the Ghanaian couple and the Guinea national are couriers of an African drug syndicate.

PDEA records show that 52 African syndicate members have been arrested since 2010.

At least 63 percent are nationals of Nigeria, Mozambique, Lesotho, Togo, Ghana, South Africa, Guinea, Botswana, Kenya and Uganda.

Records also show that of the 52 syndicate members, 38 or 73 percent were arrested in the Philippines.

The BOC said it would assign additional intelligence operatives and investigators at the international airports and the postal service.

“It is already alarming. That is why we are putting additional people at the airports and in our postal service. At the moment, we already have 12 people at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and we have already added four persons but I want to make it 20 so that we would have enough manpower. As for our Postal Unit we currently have five persons and we plan to add five more,” said BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) director Fernandino Tuason.

He said he would personally relay the new directive to CIIS operatives at the Cebu International Airport and the Davao International Airport. – Reinir Padua, Rudy Santos, Evelyn Macairan