Authorities arrested a Filipina drug courier at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Thursday, January 9, at around 8:00 PM.
The operation was conducted by the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) in the exclusion room of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the International Arrival Area.
A customs duty x-ray inspector detected a suspicious substance inside the 29-year-old suspect’s luggage during a routine scan.
Further inspection using K9 units confirmed the presence of illegal drugs in the suspect’s luggage.
Authorities discovered two bags containing 4,574 grams of cocaine, with an estimated street value of PHP 24,242,200.
Based on flight records, the suspect traveled from Sierra Leone, West Africa, and arrived in Manila via Ethiopian Airlines with a connecting flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The suspect faces charges for violating Section 4, Article II of RA 9165, specifically the importation of dangerous drugs, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment and fines ranging from PHP 500,000 to PHP 10 million.