THE Manila International Airport Authority has heightened vigilance in the campaign against illegal drug trafficking in a bid to discourage international and local drug syndicates from using the Philippines as a transshipment point or dumping ground for their illegal substances.
MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal said the strict measure being enforced in and outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport resulted in the recent arrest of Jesus Detollo, an MIAA building attendant, who was caught with three sachets of meth following a week-long surveillance operation.
Elements of the MIAA airport police department, in close coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority, planned an entrapment operation against Detollo, three weeks after they received that he peddles illegal drugs to customers at the airport.
Monreal said Detollo was contacted through his mobile number for a meet-up with the poseur buyer at Gate 3 of the MIAA Administration compound. He added on the act selling, three sachets of shabu were obtained from the suspect for an amount of P1,200.
“No one will be spared from this anti-drug campaign—not even our own people. We will continue looking for them until we see them all behind bars. There is no place for them here in Naia,” Monreal said.
Detollo was turned over to the custody of the PDEA while the shabu obtained from him was sent to the PNP Crime laboratory for verification. The suspect was charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 (Dangerous Drug Act) with no bail recommended.
Monreal ordered his men from the Airport Police Department to continue their search to find possible clients of Detollo in the airport complex.
Also on Tuesday, Airport and Customs authorities intercepted a package shipped from Canada containing marijuana worth more than P100,000.
Four vacuum-sealed plastic pouches containing 343 grams of cannabis dried leaves, an illegal substance, was discovered in the parcel upon examination by teams from the Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force, Naia Customs Police and Inter Agency Task Group at the Central Mail Exchange Center warehouse in Pasay City.
Deandre Travis Johnson Cruz, who was identified as the claimant of the seized parcel, was brought to the Pasay City Hall of Justice for an investigation. Charges will be filed against the suspect for the violation of provisions of RA 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Just recently, a Korean national was also caught in possession of 117 grams of marijuana at the Naia Terminal 3.
The suspect Eunho Ahn, 24, was about to board her Philippine Airlines flight bound for Busan, South Korea when members of the Office of Transportation Security led by Judy Anne de Belen found the prohibited drugs concealed in her belly.