By: Raoul Esperas, ABS CBN
MANILA – Several Office of Transportation Security (OTS) personnel are being investigated by the Manila International Airport Authority after a huge amount of cocaine was smuggled out of the country through the country's premier airport.
A high-ranking airport official told ABS-CBN News that airport officials were alarmed by the series of drug smuggling incidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
These include the arrest of four Filipinas who were caught with 2.5 kilograms of cocaine in their luggage after arriving in Hong Kong.
READ: 4 Pinays slip out of NAIA with kilos of cocaine
Over the weekend, Thai Customs officials arrested two Thai nationals, identified as Siriwan Yodteerak and Aaew Wijit, after 2.6 kilograms of high-grade cocaine were found in a secret compartment in their luggage.
A report by the Bangkok Post said Siriwan left Manila through an AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur and boarded another plane at the Malaysian capital for a flight to Krabi, a southern province in Thailand. She arrived in Thailand on Sunday.
The report added that Siriwan's luggage which contained the cocaine was brought to Thailand on another flight. Siriwan was arrested when she came to claim her luggage, while Aaew was arrested at a hotel in Krabi.
Siriwan claimed she was paid 60,000 baht (P78,935) by Aaew's African boyfriend to smuggle the cocaine from the Philippines to Thailand. She said she had been offered several times by the African to become a drug mule but she declined all the offers.
TANIM-BALA
The reports of illegal drugs slipping out of the airport come as the OTS, an agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications, is under fire due to the series of alleged ''tanim-bala'' (bullet planting) incidents.
"How come OTS security screeners can detect a single bullet hidden in the luggage of OFW and other passengers but they mysteriously fail to detect the kilos of drugs inside hand-carried luggage of suspected drug mules?" asked the airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
READ: How victims are spotted in 'tanim-bala' modus
EXCL: 4 layer ng extortion ng 'tanim-bala'
The MIAA is now reviewing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the airport to observe the movements of the 2 Thai nationals while they were at the NAIA Terminal 3.
During a Senate hearing this month, OTS administrator Roland Recomono explained that their x-ray machines at the NAIA cannot detect cocaine. He said the cocaine will only register as an "organic substance."
The screeners' expertise, on the other hand, is only limited to the prohibited items based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), he said.
Senator Alan Cayetano, however, said the OTS can actually add items to ICAO's list, based onExecutive Order No. 311.
These include the arrest of four Filipinas who were caught with 2.5 kilograms of cocaine in their luggage after arriving in Hong Kong.
READ: 4 Pinays slip out of NAIA with kilos of cocaine
Over the weekend, Thai Customs officials arrested two Thai nationals, identified as Siriwan Yodteerak and Aaew Wijit, after 2.6 kilograms of high-grade cocaine were found in a secret compartment in their luggage.
A report by the Bangkok Post said Siriwan left Manila through an AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur and boarded another plane at the Malaysian capital for a flight to Krabi, a southern province in Thailand. She arrived in Thailand on Sunday.
The report added that Siriwan's luggage which contained the cocaine was brought to Thailand on another flight. Siriwan was arrested when she came to claim her luggage, while Aaew was arrested at a hotel in Krabi.
Siriwan claimed she was paid 60,000 baht (P78,935) by Aaew's African boyfriend to smuggle the cocaine from the Philippines to Thailand. She said she had been offered several times by the African to become a drug mule but she declined all the offers.
TANIM-BALA
The reports of illegal drugs slipping out of the airport come as the OTS, an agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications, is under fire due to the series of alleged ''tanim-bala'' (bullet planting) incidents.
"How come OTS security screeners can detect a single bullet hidden in the luggage of OFW and other passengers but they mysteriously fail to detect the kilos of drugs inside hand-carried luggage of suspected drug mules?" asked the airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
READ: How victims are spotted in 'tanim-bala' modus
EXCL: 4 layer ng extortion ng 'tanim-bala'
The MIAA is now reviewing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the airport to observe the movements of the 2 Thai nationals while they were at the NAIA Terminal 3.
During a Senate hearing this month, OTS administrator Roland Recomono explained that their x-ray machines at the NAIA cannot detect cocaine. He said the cocaine will only register as an "organic substance."
The screeners' expertise, on the other hand, is only limited to the prohibited items based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), he said.
Senator Alan Cayetano, however, said the OTS can actually add items to ICAO's list, based onExecutive Order No. 311.
