THE Port of Clark under Coll. John Simon proved to be a hard barrier to cross for drug smugglers after seizing a total of more than P9.4 million in illegal drugs from two separate operations in less than a week.
In a report to Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, Simon said the first to be apprehended is a shipment of some 839 grams of shabu from Harare, Zimbabwe, worth over P3.7 million.
The contraband, which arrived last February 14, 2023, was declared as consisting of ‘dress.’
Simon said the shabu was found hidden inside 255 dress buttons and even in the side walls of the carton box containing the dresses and buttons.
The apprehension was followed by another successful interdiction, this time of a shipment of ‘kush’ (high grade) marijuana shipped from Quebec, Canada, last February 19.
Simon said the shipment, weighing 2.336 kilos and valued at P3.74 million, was declared as “window curtains and cotton.”
The following day, Simon said joint operatives from the BOC and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), initiated a ‘controlled delivery operation’ at the consignee’s address in Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales, which led to the arrest of one claimant.
The name of the claimant, however, was not released by the authorities.