P7.5M shabu seized in Pasay warehouse

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The seized shabu were shipped from Malaysia and declared as “cloths slipper” and “cloths slipper jung food chip.” Photo from Bureau of Customs.
  • 1 kg of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, were seized by the Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport in a Pasay warehouse
  • The contraband, with a street value of P7.528 million, was concealed in two air parcels shipped from Malaysia
  • They were declared as “cloths slipper” and “cloths slipper jung food chip”
  • The drugs were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on September 29

A total of 1.1 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, with an estimated street value of P7.528 million were seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Ninoy Aquino International Airport in a warehouse in Pasay City.

The air parcels were subjected to 100% physical examination after they yielded suspicious images following x-ray scanning and K-9 sweeping, BOC said in a statement.

Upon examination, the parcels revealed four plastic bags containing white crystalline substances concealed in t-shirts.

The substances were later confirmed as shabu through a field test conducted by the Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force and a laboratory chemical analysis ran by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

BOC said importation documents showed the seized air parcels were shipped from Malaysia and declared as “cloths slipper” and “cloths slipper jung food chip.”

The seized illegal drugs were turned over to PDEA on September 29 for case profiling and build-up and possible prosecution of the responsible individuals for violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act 2002, in relation to Section 119 (Restricted Importation) and Section 1401 (Unlawful Importation) of RA No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

In the first half of 2021, illegal drugs topped BOC’s most seized goods in terms of value. Of the P10.169 billion total value of seized smuggled items from January to June 2021, P1.869 billion were illegal drugs.

In the same period, shabu was the most seized illegal drug in terms of value at P1.804 billion.