BOC on lookout for drugs in toys

MANILA, Philippines - Bureau of Customs (BOC) examiners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals have started checking stuffed toys brought by passengers after 200 methamphetamine tablets were found in a teddy bear bound for South Africa last Wednesday, an official said yesterday.

NAIA customs district collector Edgar Macabeo said examiners must first inform the passengers about the search in a polite manner so as not to embarrass them.

He said the tablets were found hidden in the teddy bear’s hands, legs and head when the toy passed through the x-ray machine manned by BOC personnel at a courier firm’s warehouse.

The toy was sent by a certain Jason Thomas from Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro to a “Miss H. Thompson” in South Africa, officials said, adding that they believe the sender’s name is fictitious.

Macabeo said this is the first time they found illegal drugs hidden in a stuffed toy. He said that earlier this year, sachets of shabu were found in women’s clogs sent through a courier service.