Government agents are investigating a Bolivian lady passenger who was caught smuggling prohibited drugs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Monday night.
Maria Hinojosa Bazan was arrested by members of the Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group following her arrival at the Naia Terminal 1 around 6:50 p.m.
The suspect arrived on board Ethiopian Air flight RT 628 from Addis Ababa.
Customs policemen found the cocaine in liquid form hidden inside the four winter jackets carried by the suspect. The illegal drugs are still being verified by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The authorities immediately conducted a search operation at the airport based on the information given by the International Police that a foreign passenger was carrying prohibited items.
Upon her arrival, Bazan was asked by a Customs examiner to fill up a declaration form and if she wanted to declare anything. The suspect replied “nothing”. Airport and Customs officials then invited her at the exclusion room at the arrival area for rigid examination of her belongings in the presence of concerned officials.
After physical examination, the authorities the liquid substances hidden inside the passenger’s winter jackets kept inside her luggage.
Bazan, who is now in the custody of the PDEA, said she didn’t know there was prohibited items concealed in her luggage.
In October, airport and Customs authorities also arrested three foreigners caught in possession of a prohibited substance —methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu; and cocaine in powder and liquid form.
The suspects were identified as Hong Kong nationals Chan Kawai and Pau Homanevan and Russian Kirdyushkin Yuri, who arrived at the Naia Terminal 3 on board Emirates Air Flight EK332 from Rio Grande, Brazil via Dubai.
About 7.4 kilograms of suspected cocaine in powder form and 2.5 kilos of liquid cocaine was found in Yuri’s luggage, while nine kilos of powder shabu were found hidden inside the luggage of the two Hong Kong nationals.
Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal advised air travelers not to accept any request to bring along packages in their trips if they haven’t seen its contents, especially if the person making the request is not personally known to them.
The MIAA heightened its vigilance in the campaign against illegal drug trafficking in a bid to discourage international drug syndicates from using the Philippines as a transshipment point or dumping ground for their illegal substances.
Monreal said they are also sending a strong message to drug syndicates, that the law enforcement agencies of the government are joining hands to fight their way to a drug free country in order to provide a safe environment that is conducive for development.
