Five anti-illegal drug operations had been conducted by the Bureau of Customs office (BoC) overseeing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office.
The total value of the drugs seized from the ops amounted to P21.12 million, according to BoC-NAIA.
The most recent operation saw P14 million worth of narcotics being seized at two warehouses inside the NAIA complex in Pasay City.
One was an outbound shipment at the DHL warehouse, while the other was an inbound shipment from the Netherlands at the Central Mail Exchange Center.
BoC-NAIA District Collector Carmelita Talusan said the modus operandi of the syndicate is to resort to misdeclaration of shipment as essential goods and then to use bogus names as senders and consignees.
Talusan added that BoC-NAIA operatives have already located the sender and the consignees of their recent interception of illegal drugs.
It said that from July to August 2021, the port also recorded five drug busts amounting to P17.8 million.
Most of the illegal drugs that the port has intercepted are ecstasy, shabu and marijuana, the latter both leaves and liquid.
All illegal drugs and the arrested claimants have been immediately turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for proper evidence handling and case build-up against the suspects.