P90M worth of shabu destroyed in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and police crime laboratory destroyed an estimated P90-million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu that was intercepted four months ago in the international airport here, according to  an official.

Jeffrey Bangsa, PDEA regional director, said the destruction of the 17.480 kilograms of shabu was undertaken following  an order of Judge Eric Elumba of 9th Judicial Regional Branch 13 Regional Trial Court Thursday afternoon.

The big volume of shabu was intercepted by the personnel of the Office for Transportation (OTS) and Aviation Security group on November 8 after two suspects attempted to sneak the dangerous drugs placed in  two “balik bayan” boxes and concealed on small boxes of powdered milk, according to Bangsa.

Bangsa said the two suspects who were arrested and charged in court were identified as Mohd Daud Hashim Arabani and Karim Sabtari Salim.

The destruction of the large volume of shabu was conducted by the 9th police crime laboratory and the Police Regional Office 9 (PRO) in the presence of the court and legal representative of the arrested suspects.

Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, who was present during the destruction of the drugs, lauded the PDEA and the police.

Bangsa said with the success of the OTS and Aviation Security Group (AVESEGroup), they are now planning to establish the Zamboanga International Airport Anti-Illegal Drug Interdiction Unit.

Salazar also maintained that the authorities in Manila airport have to conduct their investigation to find out how the large volume of shabu was sneaked in by the suspects.

She said it was the second time that the authorities in the Zamboanga airport intercepted large volume of shabu concealed in commercial products.