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Some 3,100 ecstasy tablets worth P5.3 million were seized during a controlled delivery operation in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga
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The package was originally declared as orthopedic jelly shoes, flexible LED mirror, dust buster, hand mixer, and birdhouse display
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The claimant was arrested for possible violation of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Act and Customs Modernization and Tariff Act
Authorities seized 3,100 assorted ecstasy tablets worth an estimated P5.27 million from a claimant during a controlled delivery operation in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga on March 18, 2021.
The claimant, a certain Agatha Lavadia Pale, had an authorization letter to receive the parcel consigned to a certain Zhyelle Marquez Ancheta.
Pale was arrested by agents from the Bureau of Customs-Port of Manila (BOC-POM) Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, Customs Postal Office, Central Mail Exchange Center, Enforcement and Security Service, Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The package had been declared as orthopedic jelly shoes, flexible LED mirror, dust buster, hand mixer, and birdhouse display, but was verified to contain various tablets of ecstasy numbering 3,100, BOC said in a statement.
The claimant was taken into custody by PDEA and is undergoing investigation for possible violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165, or the Anti-Illegal Drugs Act, as well as Section 1400 (Misdeclaration, Misclassification, Undervaluation, in Goods Declaration) of RA 10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
BOC-POM district collector Michael Angelo Vargas warned the public to be careful when claiming packages “especially when it is done as a favor as this may be the means of certain unscrupulous individuals to smuggle illegal drugs into the country.”
