AN UGANDAN national was arrested during an interdiction operation after attempting to smuggle over six kilos of shabu at the arrival area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Tuesday night, October 28.
The suspect was identified as Ahmed Adnan, a 45-year-old Ugandan businessman from Katabi Busampaga, Entebbe City, Uganda, according to a report from the Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (IADITG). The arrest took place at around 8:07 p.m. at the Customs Exclusion Room, Arrival Area, NAIA Terminal 3, Pasay City. Adnan arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 as a passenger on Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 852 from Antananarivo, Madagascar, with a connecting flight to Addis Ababa via Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 644.
The suspect’s gray luggage did not pass inspection using the x-ray machine, which revealed suspicious items inside, prompting a customs inspector to open it. Upon inspection of the suspect’s luggage in the presence of operatives from Team 1 of NAIA-IADITG, five bags with improvised packaging tape containing a white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu were discovered, weighing 6.25 kilos and valued at P42,500,000.
Also found in the suspect’s luggage were clothing, toys, an extension cord, a hair straightener, ginseng and coffee candy, Himalaya Shilajit gummies, tea bags, massage gel, and a pair of shoes. Adnan’s passport and boarding pass, a black Biaowang backpack containing bank cards, a cellular phone, six $100 US dollar bills, and a company ID were also confiscated.
The seized evidence was taken to the PDEA Laboratory Service for examination. The suspect faces charges for violating Section 4 of Art. II of RA 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office. Team 1 of NAIA-IADITG consists of operatives from various agencies led by PDEA RO NCR, including the Bureau of Customs – Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force (BOC-CAIDTF), PNP Aviation Security Group (AVSEG), Airport Police Department (APD), PNP Drug Enforcement Group (DEG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
