The alleged smuggling of P6.8 billion worth of shabu could have been stopped at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) if the personnel who attended to the shipment were properly trained, a customs official said on Wednesday.
Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang, Deputy Director for Passenger Service at BOC, said that it was a standard operating procedure for x-ray personnel to subject certain containers to physical examination.
“Kung well-trained and well-experienced ang image analysts, hindi makakalusot ‘yan (If they image analysts are well-trained and well-experienced, it could not have slipped through),” she said in a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
READ: Customs X-rays can be manipulated, says BOC official
“Since this is metal, like vaults, cylinders, even if we find the image negative, we subject it to physical examination,” she also said, noting that they have previously discovered firearms hidden in vaults.
Customs officials earlier said that x-ray machines being used at BOC cannot trace the presence of illegal drugs if it is wrapped in lead, foil, or plastic.
They have also have been denying that the magnetic lifters found by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Cavite have been emptied of the multi-billion worth of “shabu.” They said the containers tested negative for illegal drugs after conducting a swab test.
But Senator Richard Gordon, committee chair, said the circumstantial evidences prove that the magnetic lifters have indeed contained drugs. /je
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