The Bureau of Customs (BOC) based at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport intensified its efforts in the last two quarters of 2016 to help protect the country from the drug scourge, as well as assist other government agencies in carrying out the Duterte administration’s campaign against corruption and smuggling.
As a result, the BOC-NAIA was able to significantly enhance its revenue collections, intercept the entry into the country of some P242 million-worth of high-grade cocaine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), along with other types of narcotics and illegal substances, and apprehend devices and paraphernalia used for money laundering and illegal gambling.
Year-on-year collections of the BOC-NAIA went up by 28 percent from P1.36 billion in 2015 to P1.9 billion in 2016, according to a report by the Bureau to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Actual collections amounted to P8.3 billion in the third quarter and P8.4 billion in the fourth quarter, said this BOC unit in its report to Dominguez.
For the entire year, the BOC-NAIA’s collections have already reached P33.7 billion as of the third week of December 2016 which is 93.8 percent of the full-year target of P36.12 billion.
Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon also issued a new order covering the NAIA Collection District III, which now requires accredited public bonded warehouses to provide the BOC the necessary tools and equipment, such a X-ray machines, CCTVs, and computers, to enhance its revenue collection and strengthen enforcement initiatives.
Cash collections with monetized currencies seized by the BOC from different airline passengers since January 2016 have reached P33.7 billion.
The BOC-NAIA also created an Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Lane at the NAIA International Passenger Terminals 1, 2 and 3 in line with the thrust of the present administration to further assist and to provide hassle-free clearance for arriving OFWs.
Dominguez had lauded the BOC-NAIA for its successive arrests of suspected drug couriers with the help of airport and drug enforcement authorities at the NAIA.
Last Nov. 14, the BOC-NAIA Interagency Drug Interdiction Group (IADIG), apprehended Malaysian Nasir Uddin Bin Mohd Hasnan after he was found to be carrying 4.6 kilos of high-grade cocaine with an estimated street value of P23 million.
In October 17 , 22-year old Genesis Lorena Pineda Salazar was found to be carrying 4.3 kilograms of cocaine worth P21.5 million.
The Customs team assigned at the NAIA, working under the IADIG and in close coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), also arrested lastOct. 15 Brazilian Yasmin Silva, who was found to be carrying 6.8 kilos of cocaine with a street value of P34 million.
Last Oct. 5, the IADIG nabbed two Chinese from Hong Kong and a Russian at the airport for trying to smuggle in 27.9 kilos of cocaine with a street value of P139.5 million.
The IADIG apprehended Chan Kawai and Pau Homanevan, both Chinese nationals from Hong Kong, and Kirdyushkin Yury, a Russian, who arrived separately on an Emirates flight from Hong Kong.
On Oct. 2, a 22-year old student, Jon-Jon Villamin, arrived via an Emirates flight from Dubai and was found to be carrying 4.8 kilos of cocaine with a street value of P24 million following a joint BOC-PDEA operation.
In several operations, the BOC-NAIA also seized suspected gun parts and accessories, and other suspicious items in commercial quantities over the October to December period.
