P3.8 million shabu seized at NAIA warehouse

MANILA, Philippines — Law enforcers intercepted P3.8 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu from a warehouse at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Monday.

The 560 grams of shabu were hidden in a parcel declared to contain eyelash sets, electric hair dryers and electric hair brushes. The package was supposed to be sent to Australia.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) conducted the operation at the DHL Express Gateway warehouse along with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.

The BOC said the shipper and consignee are under investigation by the PDEA on charges of violating drug and customs laws.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old man accused of stabbing his friend over illegal drugs in Quezon City was arrested on Monday night.

Lowell Maza, alias Bitoy, was apprehended by Quezon City Police District (QCPD) operatives in Camarin, Caloocan City, two days after he allegedly killed his friend, Siegbred Lacambra, 38, in  Barangay Pasong Tamo at around 8 p.m. on Saturday.

QCPD Station 14 commander Lt. Col. May Genio said Maza stabbed the victim following an argument over a weighing scale Lacambra was using to measure shabu.

In a GMA News interview yesterday, Genio said the suspect was joking when he hid the weighing scale.

Lacambra allegedly threatened to kill Maza, which prompted the suspect to grab a knife and stab his friend in the stomach.

The suspect fled from the scene on foot. Lacambra ran towards his mother, who was tending their vegetable store, and sought help.

Lacambra died at a hospital.

In the same television interview, Maza claimed he killed Lacambra in self-defense. – Rudy Santos, Emmanuel Tupas