A passenger from Africa was arrested for allegedly trying to slip in illegal drugs worth P18.3 million at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) said on Friday.
In a statement, PDEG chief Col. Dionisio Bartolome Jr. identified the suspect as Zenaida Esperanza Losloso, 49, an arriving passenger from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with flight No. ET 644 on Thursday evening.
Losloso was arrested by the operatives of PDEG, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) at the NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City at around 9:45 p.m. Thursday.
Seized during the operation were some 3,454 grams of suspected cocaine with an estimated standard drug price of P18,306,200 concealed in an improvised plastic sachet.
The arrested suspect and recovered pieces of evidence were brought to the PDEA Office for proper documentation and disposition as authorities investigate the arrested passenger for violation of Republic Act 9165 (RA) or the Comprehensive Drug Act of 2002 and RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. (PNA)
