Customs agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport seized another smuggled shipment of ecstasy tablets at Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City.
The authorities also arrested Rex Andrade of Quezon City, the claimant of the ecstasy pills worth P3.7 million.
Elements of the Bureau of Customs-NAIA made the seizure in close coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group last Monday.
The package came from Utrecht, Netherlands and was misdeclared as “Gondoliere Coffee (Arabica).”
The authorities placed the shipment under 100 percent physical examination and discovered 2,203 ecstasy tablets concealed in coffee packaging.
Field test conducted by the PDEA and Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force yielded positive results indicative of ecstasy, a prohibited party drugs.
The claimant and the seized shipment were turned over to PDEA for proper custody. The suspect will be charged criminally for violating Republic Act 9165, also known as Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, in relation to Section 1401 (Unlawful Importation) of the Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Only recently, a claimant was also apprehended for claiming P1.8 million worth of ecstasy tablets.
Amid the threat posed by the COVID-19 virus, the Customs bureau maintains its commitment to protect the country’s border and prevent attempts to smuggle illegal goods and contrabands.
Authorities said ecstasy is a dangerous party drug that killed five people during a rave party four years ago in Pasay City.
Aside from ecstasy, shabu and marijuana are the top three narcotics distributed in the streets and these prohibited substances are manufactured by Chinese, Taiwanese and Mexican drug syndicates, according to PDEA.