Big Shabu shipment seized anew at Zambo City International Airport

http://www.zamboangatimes.ph/zamboangatimes/top-news/9559-big-shabu-shipment-seized-anew-at-zambo-city-airport.html

ZAMBOANGA CITY  -- Authorities intercepted yesterday another big shipment of shabu — the third one in in three months — the Zamboanga City Airport.

The latest interception involved 200 grams of suspected methampetamine hydrochloride concealed in coffee packs sent in from Manila via LBC cargo forwarder.

Police said identified the sender of the package containing the shabu as Abdusahar Salbi and the consignee as Nadzmer Murajam of Jolo, Sulu.

The shipment is worth P1 million. It was detected around 8 a.m. on Jan 16, 2014

after the package underwent x-ray check.

On November 9 last year, close to 20 kilograms of shabu valued at between P60 to 70 million were intercepted at the Zamboanga City airport.

Two men bringing the shipment from Manila were arrested.

Police said the Nov. 9 shabu shipment was intended to be smuggled to Malaysia via  Zamboanga City and Tawi-Tawi.

Nabbed were Salim Sabtari y Kalim and Mohammad Daud Arabani y Hashim, both residents of Tawi-Tawi.

Airport authorities saw through the x-ray machine a total of 18 small milk cartons sealed inside the two big balikbayan boxes. They became suspicious because some of the small cartons contained dark substance.

Sabtari and Arabani were immediate held.They were ordered to open the two big boxes which were found to be containing shabu.

Aside from grocery and junk food items, the two balikbayan boxes contained 18 boxes of Alaska milk of 700 grams and several other small boxes of the same powder milk.

It was found out that all the 700-gram boxes contained shabu more or less 1 kilogram each, while the small boxes contained genuine Alaska powder milk.

During actual inspection and inventory, police and PDEA agents found out that the shabu packs were wrapped with carbon paper and were resealed inside aluminum pack of the milk then sealed again inside the boxes. The dark substance seen through the x-ray machine was the carbon paper wrap.

It was learned that Sabtari and Arabani arrived in Zamboanga City from Manila last Thursday bringing along the two big boxes containing the shabu.

About two weeks later, a parcel containing an estimated P3 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) was intercepted again at the Zamboanga airport.

The airport interdiction operation was carried out by the Office for Transportation Security of the Department of Transportation and Communications, with the support of PDEA and other law enforcement units in Zamboanga City, on November 21, 2013.

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo G. Cacdac, Jr. said the illegal drug, with estimated value of P3 million, was concealed in eight plastic bundles wrapped with electrical tape, together with flip-flop sandals inside a package bound for Tawi-Tawi.

At around 5:30 pm, combined elements of OTS DOTC, Police Center for Aviation Security 9, Zamboanga International Airport Police Station, City’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (CAIDSOTF) Regional Intelligence Division 9, and PDEA Regional Office 9 (PDEA RO 9) under the direct supervision of Director Jeffrey Bangsa, intercepted the 600 grams of shabu at the initial screening area of Zamboanga International Airport, Zamboanga City.

“The shabu package arrived at the Zamboanga International Airport via Philippine Airlines Flight Number 2P993 on November 21, 2013, and was scheduled for shipment to Tawi-tawi a day after,” Cacdac said. The package was sent by a certain Gloria Fernandez of Dagupan, Pangasinan, using a local courier service, and was to be delivered to one of its branches in Bongao, Tawi-tawi.-Dan Toribio. Jr.