A smuggled shipment of ketamine worth more than P2.6 million was intercepted at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.
Combined teams from the Port of Clark, Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force (CAIDTF), Enforcement and Security Service, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, X-ray Inspection Project, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, seized the shipment containing 535.6 grams of illegal drugs hidden under polycarbonate sheets.
Bases on import documents, the shipment came from Hoofddorp, The Netherlands and was misdeclared as clothing, a clear case of technical smuggling.
It was subjected to x-ray scanning after “suspicious images were detected, resulting in the discovery of four pieces of polycarbonate sheets concealing white crystalline substances suspected to be illegal drugs.”
The CAIDTF tested the substances which indicated the presence of “Special K, Ketamine”.
Samples were taken and turned over to the PDEA for chemical laboratory analysis that later confirmed that the substances contain Ketamine, classified as a dangerous drug under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Port of Clark District Collector Alexandra Lumontad issued a Warrant of Seizure and Detention against the shipment for violation of Sections 119 (d), and 1113 (f) of R.A. No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, and Section 4 of R.A. No. 9165.
In June, the Port also confiscated P2.5-million worth of ketamine from Spain hidden in picture frames.
Lumontad said the Customs bureau under the leadership of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz continues to further intensify its border protection efforts, in line with the directives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs in the country.