BoC seizes P400-M shabu from Hong Kong
HONG KONG: BOC, The Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P400 worth millions having a high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” coming from Hong Kong.
In a e-mailed statement, the BoC said it seized 40 kilograms of high-grade shabu that was consigned to a certain Danilo Pineda.
Authorities arrested Pineda on Monday after he claimed the shipment. It was hidden inside a water pump that was sent through air cargo from Hong Kong on Dec. 28, 2014. A spokesperson for the bureau said high-grade shabu costs P10 million per kilo or P10,000 per gram. Common shabu only costs P1,000 to P1,500 per gram.
“The ‘shabu’ was discovered following derogatory information received by the Customs’ Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force,” the bureau said in a statement.
An estimated P1 billion worth of various illegal, fake or controlled drugs and substances, including ‘shabu’, marijuana, ‘Ecstacy’, Valium, Ativan, Dormicum, Rivotril, Alprazolam, Ritalin, and other unlabeled tablets were seized by BoC in 2014.
BOC claimed that it has implemented “more stringent control measures” for examining cargo and parcels following discovery of illegal substances concealed in items like shoes, denim pants, slippers, books, billiard cue stick and stuffed toys.
It identifies contraband items through inspection using X-Ray scanning machines and “rigid” physical inspection. The agency last week confiscated 660 kilograms of counterfeit medicines.
