MANILA, Philippines—A joint team from the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has arrested an Indonesian woman—a suspected member of a West African drug syndicate—who tried to smuggle into the country some P17 million worth of high-grade drugs.
At a press conference on Monday, NBI Reaction, Arrest and Interdiction Division (RAID) chief Ross Jonathan Galicia said that Media Aprideri, a 28-year-old pharmacy clerk from Indonesia, was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on May 19.
Seized from her was high-grade methamphethamine hydrochloride, or “shabu,” weighing three kilos.
Galicia said that before the arrest, his team had received information that a passenger from Bamako, Mali, would be bringing in illegal drugs.
This prompted law-enforcement authorities, including PDEA operatives assigned at the airport and NBI-RAID agents, to keep a close watch on arriving passengers at the airport.
Secret compartment
At around 11 p.m. on May 19, Aprideri flew in from Africa. Police dogs detected the drugs in a tightly sealed plastic bag, which had been hidden in a secret compartment inside her luggage.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who was present at the press conference, said that the arrest was the result of “a common effort among international law-enforcement agencies.”
According to him, Aprideri traveled from Indonesia to Malaysia and vice versa from November to December last year as shown by entries in her passport.
From Indonesia, she flew to Manila on April 30 and then left for Ethiopia on May 10, Binay said.
On May 12, Aprideri took a flight that left for Bamako, Mali. Six days later, she left for Manila and landed in the hands of the joint team of NBI and PDEA agents.
Higher grade
Galicia, meanwhile, said that the drugs in the Indonesian woman’s bag were “of a higher grade and uniform grain.”
“The contraband passes through several transit points to avoid detection [by authorities],” he added.
The NBI official said that Aprideri had been charged with violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office.
She was, however, cooperating with the bureau on the apprehension of other members of the drug syndicate, Galicia added.—With Monalisa Chuang, trainee