-
Warehouse raids in Pasay City yielded ecstasy and kush marijuana worth P3 million
-
Seized were 1,681 ecstasy tablets concealed inside a microwave oven and 133 grams of kush marijuana found inside a metal toy box
-
The ecstasy was shipped from the Netherlands while the kush came from the US
-
Both parcels were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
Ecstasy and kush marijuana worth P3.017 million altogether and concealed in air parcels were seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in raids on separate warehouses in Pasay City.
BOC-Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (NAIA) Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force, PDEA, and NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) seized 1,681 tablets of ecstasy with an estimated street value of P2.858 million and concealed inside a microwave oven, and 133 grams of kush estimated at P159,600 and found inside a metal toy box.
BOC, in a statement, said the seized ecstasy was shipped from the Netherlands and consigned to a recipient in Quezon City while the intercepted kush marijuana was shipped from the US and consigned to a certain individual in Pasay City.
Both parcels were turned over to PDEA on April 6 for case profiling and buildup against the involved individuals for possible violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, in relation to Section 119 (Restricted Importation) and Section1401 (Unlawful Importation) of RA 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Recently, BOC-NAIA, PDEA, and NAIA-IADITG also intercepted P13.6 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, which had been concealed in a steamboat hotpot grill appliance.
In 2020, a total of 23,482 ecstasy tablets worth P42.3 million were seized by BOC-NAIA with PDEA and NAIA-IADITG. BOC NAIA last year also condemned and destroyed 373.2 tons of unsafe and hazardous goods, including unregistered medicines and pharmaceuticals without Food and Drug Administration permits and clearances.
Of the estimated P9.75 billion worth of smuggled goods that BOC collection districts seized in 2020, P1.85 billion were from drug seizures.
