AIRPORT and Customs authorities arrested three foreigners caught in possession of 27 kilos of prohibited substance, suspected to be cocaine and shabu, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Wednesday afternoon.
The suspects were Chinese nationals Chan Kawai and Pau Homanevan and Russian Kirdyushkin Yuri, who arrived at the Naia Terminal 3 on board Emirates Air Flight EK332 around 4:30 p.m. from Rio Grande, Brazil via Dubai.
Customs policemen found cocaine in powder form while the liquid form are still the subject of verification from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
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.
Officials said the latest apprehension was the biggest haul of cocaine so far and the second interception this month at the airport.
Customs Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement Group Arnel Alcaraz ordered Naia -Enforcement and Security Service chief Reggie Tuason to strictly monitor all the luggage of arriving passengers to prevent the entry of any illegal substance into the country.
Last Sunday, a 22-year-old Filipino was arrested at the Naia terminal 3 for smuggling 4.8 kilograms of cocaine found in his two suitcases after he arrived from Brazil via Dubai on the same Emirates Air flight.
But the suspect Jonjon Villamin claimed he didn’t know his two checked-in luggage contained the prohibited substance, saying he was only asked to bring the luggage to the Philippines by a Brazilian friend he met in Manila two years ago.