Illegal drugs seem to be an international curse.
Shortly before noon on Wed, Jul 20, a Chinese woman was arrested by the Customs police at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) after she was allegedly caught bringing in 4.5 kilos of shabu.
Liming Zhou, 27, arrived at 11:30 a.m. from Xiamen, China via Hong Kong on board a Cathay Pacific flight. She had one light blue trolley bag.
“While passengers were lining up at the X-ray machine at the arrival area, Olibert Estillore, K-9 officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), noticed Zhou looking so uneasy and kept going to the toilet. When it was her turn at the X-ray, machine operator Haron Paragona of the Bureau of Customs, detected several packs inside her light blue trolley bag,” reports Norman Mendoza on Inquirer.net.
Thus, Zhou was asked to step aside while Customs personnel Ronor Alinsug and Albert Barliso inspected her bag. Initially, they found several dresses inside the bag. However, they noticed that there was a glossy piece of plywood that served as a compartment in her luggage.
The report noted: “Zhou looked pale when the two officers found several packs of what appeared to be shabu after destroying the compartment. The two K-9 dogs immediately sat after sniffing on the packs, indicating that these contained illegal drugs.”
The contents were later tested and confirmed to be shabu. The PDEA estimated its street worth to be PHP6 million.
Zhou was then brought inside the Customs Office at the MCIA where she was to undergo interrogation. She reportedly burst into tears and was shaking when she was told that she had to be detained for bringing in illegal drugs into the country.
As of Wed afternoon, Jay Oyao, MCIA Customs officer-in-charge, said they were waiting for an interpreter so they could get more information about Zhou’s background and her contact in Cebu. Zhou could only speak Mandarin. Based on her passport, though, Zhou had been to the Philippines at least thrice.
