P114.5M SHABU IN FIGURINES SEIZED AT NAIA

GOVERNMENT and anti-narcotics agents arrested three men and seized around P114.5 worth of shabu in an interdiction operation at a warehouse of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Sunday said.

According to Port of NAIA district collector Yasmin Mapa, the 16,848 grams of the illegal substance was found packed in transparent plastic bags and further concealed inside several green figurines across four boxes.

Three suspects were arrested while claiming the parcels.

Operatives of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the  NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, Intelligence personnel for the Aviation Security Unit (NCR), and the Cargo Police Station launched the operation.

Authorities said the shipment, which arrived on Jan. 6, 2026, was sent by a certain “Marius” from Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The parcels were flagged during routine X-ray screening and manual inspection by the BOC, followed by a positive K-9 alert from the PDEA.

The arrested suspects are currently under custody and face charges for violation of Section 4 (Importation of Dangerous Drugs) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.