MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) presented to the media on Monday, December 11, around 11.5 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” at their national headquarters in Quezon City.

PDEA chief Director General Aaron Aquino said the packs of illegal drugs – laid out before him during the press conference – were seized in two separate operations on the same FedEx delivery service branch in Pasay City.

According to Aquino, the packages were flagged down by one of their K9 units while conducting random searches. The deliveries supposedly passed through FedEx’s x-ray screening process without a problem.

The first haul on November 29 yielded 6 kg of shabu worth P30 million, and the second on December 4 yielded 5.5 kg worth P27.5 million.

The illegal packages, Aquino said, came from the same suspect: American national Tyler Wilson of Culver City, California.

They were shipped into the Philippines declared as “toys,” Aquino said, adding that Wilson was taking advantage of the Christmas season, when delivery services are overwhelmed with packages.

“These illegal drugs or illegal drug group are taking advantage of the Christmas season. It happens, but they are taking advantage of it. And we expect that there are more illegal drugs shipments to come using courier delivery services and shipping services,” Aquino said.

The first delivery was set to be received by Rogelio Almodiel of Taguig, and the second by Hasmine Erquiza of Quezon City.

When they were visited by the PDEA at their homes, they were nowhere to be found.

When captured, Aquino said, they will be charged with violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Republic Act 9165) for illegal importation of illegal drugs.

Aquino said they will coordinate with the courier delivery companies like FedEx to craft rules to prevent more contraband packages sneaking into the country. – Rappler.com