Photo courtesy of Bureau of Customs
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized a shipment of party drug Ketamine worth P3.1 million and arrested its receiver in a “controlled delivery” operation in Caloocan City.
Authorities identified the suspect as Kristopher Segumbang. He was arrested on Monday afternoon for claiming the package, which was intercepted by BOC agents on May 10. The shipment came from Malaysia.
Upon examination, the customs examiner found 622 grams of Ketamine worth P3,110,000 concealed in 15 sachets of white coffee, the BOC said.
“The seized illegal drugs were initially discovered when its package was subjected to non-intrusive x-ray scanning by the X-ray Inspection Project and K-9 sweeping,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Members of the BOC-Port of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and NAIA Inter-agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) consequently hatched the controlled delivery operation in Caloocan City on May 17 where Segumbang showed up.
Segumbang was an authorized representative of the shipment’s listed consignee, Nick Dimagiba, BOC noted.
Segumbang is now in the custody of PDEA and may face charges in violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, in relation to Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Ketamine was originally meant to be used as an anesthetic but is commonly used as “party drugs” for its tranquilizing effects.
— John Eric Mendoza
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