NAIA Customs seizes illegal drugs from Pakistan

NAIA customs officials inspect part of the shipment of Alprazolam from Pakistan which the consignee had apparently abandoned at Pair Pags cargo warehouse near NAIA terminal 1. Photo by Eric B. Apolonio.

MANILA - Customs authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) seized some 81,152 blister packs originating from Pakistan, corresponding to 81,529 caplets of the drug Alprazolam, which is classified as a form of dangerous drugs and estimated to be worth two million pesos, after it was abandoned by the consignee.

Customs Anti Illegal Drugs Task Force (CAIDTF) Executive Officer Sherwin Andrada and NAIA Customs Police Chief Reggie Tuason said that the shipment came in two carton boxes last June 30, 2014 at Pair-Pags cargo warehouse near NAIA terminal 1 and consigned to a certain Jasmen Tameyo of Garden City, Parañaque.

The shipment was sent by Iqra Garments with listed address at 39 Bashir Street, Usman Guni, Lahore, Pakistan and was flown in by Emirates Air flight EK332.

The shipment weighing 60 kgs had been declared as "food supplement" and was described in the documents as "Diskettes Grain 2.5 lactose". But it actually contained caplets of the illegal drug Alprazolam, which is typically prescribed by doctors for psychiatric patients and is supposed to work similarly as Ativan.

Inspectors notified Customs District Collector Edgar Macabeo to tag the shipment and place it at the Customs Collector's coral for thorough inspection and examination.

Macabeo said that it took a while for authorities to seize the shipment because they wanted to wait for the consignee to come and claim the shipment, but the consignee never showed up and apparently decided to abandon the cargo.

The drugs were then turned over to Jacquelyn de Guzman, National Capital Region Director of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for disposal by thermal oxidation process. © Provided by Eric B. Apolonio, InterAksyon.com