P111-M shabu concealed in paintings from Mexico seized at Naia

DANGEROUS ART. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agents make an inventory of shabu found hidden in handmade paintings inside a cargo warehouse at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex in Pasay City on Tuesday (Oct. 8, 2024). The contraband was worth an estimated PHP111 million. (Photo courtesy of PDEA)

MANILA – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) intercepted a parcel containing some PHP111 million worth of shabu at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complex in Pasay City on Tuesday.

PDEA said its agents, together with NAIA-Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, found the contraband hidden in wax inside a shipment containing five hand-made paintings at the DHL Cargo Warehouse at about 3 p.m.

The contraband has a total gross weight of 16.34 kg.

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The PDEA said the parcel was declared “handmade cultural craft paintings” shipped from Mexico and consigned to a male recipient from Barangay Gaya-Gaya, San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.

The pieces of evidence were brought to the PDEA office for proper documentation and disposition.