Authorities nab consignee in QC over P5.2M worth of ecstasy pills

Authorities have arrested on Saturday a resident of Quezon City, following the seizure at the Port of Clark about P5.2 million worth of ecstasy tablets concealed in a parcel declared as “solar lights for home use.”

Earlier, operatives from a joint operation seized a total of 3,054 pieces of ecstasy tablets shipped from Zaandam, Netherlands to the Port of Clark.

Participating law-enforcement agencies in the joint operation included the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at Port of Clark, Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force (CAIDTF), Enforcement and Security Service (ESS), Customs Intelligence and Investigation Services (CIIS), X-ray Inspection Project (XIP), and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

According to the BOC,  the subject shipment consigned to an individual with an address in Quezon City was put on hold upon its arrival on January 20, Thursday, and was subjected to X-ray scanning.

PDEA’s K9 sniffing unit gave indications of possible presence of illegal drugs.

A physical examination led BOC to find three pieces of solar lights, a heating cushion, and six plastic pouches of suspected illegal drugs covered with duct tape and hidden between the linings of the corrugated box.

Further inspection on the six plastic pouches revealed about 10 grams of broken pieces of blue and pink tablets suspected to be party drugs or ecstasy, the BOC added.

A field testing was conducted by CAIDTF Clark personnel through a Rigaku Ramman Chemical Analyzer which yielded a positive result for the presence of “Mixture of Cotton MDMA” or ecstasy.

Representative samples were then taken from the tablets and were turned over to PDEA for the conduct of chemical laboratory analysis, which confirmed that the said tablets were Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or ecstasy.

A warrant for the arrest of the person responsible for the shipping and importation of contraband items was issued in violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022, and Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

The claimant was arrested on Saturday following a controlled delivery operation conducted by the joint elements of PDEA, CAIDTF, ESS, and CIIS to the consignee’s address in Quezon City.

The subject drugs were turned over to PDEA for proper disposition, while the claimant will be subjected to inquest proceedings. —LBG, GMA News