Kenyan woman busted at Naia

MANILA, Philippines—A Kenyan woman was caught trying to smuggle nearly 10 kg of “shabu,” or methamphetamine hydrochloride, into the country from the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Saturday.

Lina Aching Noah, 36, was arrested after customs inspectors found the illegal drugs, with a street value of about P45 million, in the lining of her luggage at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. said.

Noah, a suspected member of an African drug syndicate, arrived in the country at 7 p.m.  on Friday on an Emirates flight from Dubai, Gutierrez said.

The PDEA said that prior to her arrest, it had received a tip from a foreign counterpart agency about Noah, prompting agents to coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration and Bureau of Customs to intercept her.

Noah is being held at the PDEA-National Capital Region detention facility.