The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has reemphasized the importance of strengthened linkages, proper coordination, and continued intelligence-sharing among agencies who are mandated to secure the country’s borders after the recent apprehension of a shipment containing illegal drugs at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
The BOC-MICP together with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) foiled a shipment containing 276 packs of methamphetamine (local slang is shabu) weighing a total of 276 kilos and estimated to be worth around P1.8 billion on Friday night.
The drugs were found inside a 40-foot container that arrived
at the MICP on March 17. The shipment, declared to contain plastic resins, was
consigned to Wealth Lotus Empire Corp., a company registered at the Food and
Drugs Authority as food importer,
exporter and wholesaler.
“[The] PDEA received information from our international counterparts [in] Vietnam that the container aboard a ship [named] Callao Bridge V145E from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam arrived in Manila,” PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino was quoted in a statement. “The said ship contained huge amounts of illegal drugs.”
Upon receiving the report, MICP District Collector Erastus Sandino B. Austria immediately ordered x-ray examination followed with the full physical examination of the container of the suspected shipment with the presence of representatives from the PDEA and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
After the inspection, the shipment was found to contain 12 sacks with items wrapped in clear cellophane and sealed in foil packaging designed to look like tea products, which were found to be shabu upon testing of the subject substance sample by authorities.
The shipment of drugs was processed by customs broker Jane A. Castillo, with business address at Santa Lucia Street, Intramuros, Manila.