500 Ecstasy tablets from Netherlands seized at NAIA

Five hundred tablets of Ecstasy hidden inside a package sent from The Netherlands was intercepted last week by airport and anti-narcotics authorities in Pasay City.

The package was intercepted at the Central Exchange Center of the Philippine Postal Corporation in Pasay City last Friday after authorities noticed something suspicious about the parcel.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said the contraband was concealed in an aluminum foil pack, which was placed inside a black plastic pouch.

The Ecstasy tablets were estimated to be worth P500,000 on the market, Cacdac said.

The parcel was sent by a certain JM de Jong of Acacia Street, 2 2023PK Haarlem, The Netherlands, to a certain Ryan Tongco of Unit 2, 22A Emerald Street, Cainta Greenpark Village, Cainta, Rizal.

The address 50997 Koln, Germany, was indicated as the return address if the package was undelivered.

Cacdac said the inspection of the intercepted parcel was conducted by the PDEA, the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Postal Corporation as members of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Inter Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.

Upon inspection, the seized tablets were turned over to the PDEA regional office in Metro Manila and later to the PDEA Laboratory Service for forensic examination.

The NAIA-IADITG was created in 2011 to synchronize anti-illegal drug efforts to prevent the NAIA from being exploited as entry and exit points for drug trafficking.