A trolley and a backpack, which contains 5.1 kilos of methemphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, were abandoned at the arrival carousel of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 1 on Saturday.
The contraband, with an estimated value of P35.1 million, was discovered during the regular course of Customs inspection, according to Port of NAIA collector Mimel Talusan.
Talusan said the owner of the luggage who arrived on board Philippine Airlines flight PR596 from Hanoi, Vietnam may have sensed that he was being “watched.”
The abandoned luggage, a brown trolley bag and backpack, belonged to a certain Nazarene Obillo through an airline claim stab attached to the trolley.
Talusan said Customs personnel conducted a physical examination on the two pieces of baggage in the presence of airline personnel and other government agencies, including the Philippine Drug Enfocement Agency (PDEA).
The Customs anti-drugs force found a plastic wrapped with packaging tape containing white crystalline substance suspected of being shabu weighing about 5.1 kilograms on the brown trolley bag and backpack.
Customs authorities have asked the help of the Bureau of Immigration for the passenger’s identity. BENJAMIN L. VERGARA