The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has thwarted an attempt to smuggle into the country P39 million worth of high grade marijuana leaves also known as kush from Canada.
The prohibited leaves, concealed in two balikbayan boxes that arrived at the Manila
International Container Port (MICP), were confiscated on Wednesday (Feb. 5) following thorough laboratory examinations,
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), with the assistance of the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), was able to confirm the presence of kush or dried marijuana in 108 pieces of vacuum-sealed pouches stashed inside two balikbayan boxes.
BOC Commissioner Bien Rubio regretted the use of balikbayan boxes for unlawful purposes, saying it has become “a symbol of the Filipino diaspora.”
“I see balikbayan boxes as a symbol of the love and sacrifice of Filipino families so they can have a good life. For other Filipinos to use these in the illicit trade of drugs that destroy lives and communities is horrifying,” he stressed.
“Illegal drugs have no place in our Bagong Pilipinas. Smuggling of any kind is what we, in the Marcos administration, will work to pulverize and end with finality,” he added.
According to CIIS director Verne Enciso, whose team received the intelligence information the drug smuggling bid, said the shipment came through the U Mac Forwarders Express Inc. by a certain Riza Munar from Vancouver, Canada and consigned to John Paul de Leon of San Mateo, Rizal.
The boxes were declared to contain used household goods and personal effects from Canada.
“The physical examination of these boxes leaves no doubt that they shipped illegal drugs in the guise of used household items. The amount of marijuana we found will certainly hurt communities we swore to protect, ”Enciso said.
CIIS-MICP chief Alvin Enciso shared that the first balikbayan box contained 56 vacuum-sealed plastic pouches with kush and one small plastic container with 60 unidentified tablets.
The kush found in the first box totalled to more or less 14,672 grams as there were 262 grams per pouch.
The second balikbayan box, he said, had 52 vacuum-sealed plastic pouches of kush with more or less 262 grams per pouch that totalled to 13,624 grams.
Based on PDEA’s information, the estimated 28,296 grams found in the two balikbayan boxes have more or less a total value of P39,614,400.
The consignees, senders, and recipients of the shipment will also face charges under customs law for violating Section 118 (prohibited importation and exportation) and Section 1400 (misdeclaration) in the goods declaration in relation to Section 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002). Joel E. Zurbano