By Brian Jules Campued
An estimated value of P212,500,000 worth of shabu found in a parcel declared as “routers” were seized at the Port of Clark in Pampanga on March 21, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) announced Monday.
The 31,250 grams of illegal drugs were reportedly hidden in a shipment from New Jersey in the United States, according to BOC-Clark.
“Upon receiving derogatory information from PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency),” authorities subjected the package to x-ray scanning and K9 sniffing which yielded 29 packs of vacuum-sealed transparent plastic, containing crystalline substances suspected to be shabu.
Further analysis from PDEA’s chemical laboratory has confirmed that the samples were indeed positive of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, a dangerous drug under Republic Act (RA) No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
“A Warrant of Seizure and Detention was issued by District Collector Erastus Sandino B. Austria against the subject shipment for violation of Section 118 (g), 119 (d), and 1113 par. f, I, and l (3 and 4) of R.A. No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) in relation to R.A. No. 9165,” the BOC said in a statement.
According to Austria, the operation was the biggest drug apprehension of the BOC-Clark in a single shipment since 2020.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the BOC have also “heightened the security measures of the country’s borders, and in continuous coordination with PDEA and partner agencies to halt the entry of illegal drugs in the country” as directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. – avds
