The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and seven other agencies inaugurated a new operations center on Friday that will help keep the airport from being an entry and exit point for narcotics.
According to the PDEA, the new op center at NAIA Terminal 3 will serve as an operations, coordination, and administrative hub for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.
“The ceremony marks the beginning of a fully-operational anti-drugs center housed within the immediate proximity of the country’s premier airport. The public can expect a more organized collaboration of efforts among NAIA-IADITG members and look forward to a more efficient monitoring of all cargoes and passengers, both incoming and out-bound, to deter drug smuggling through NAIA,” PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said.
The inter-agency task group includes the Manila International Airport Authority, Office for Transportation Security, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service, Bureau of Customs, Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, the Bureau of Immigration, and the PNP Aviation Security Group.
Operating since 2011, the task group has arrested African Drug Syndicate (ADS) members who were trying to bring in drugs like methamphetamine hydrocholride, or shabu, into the Philippines.
