2 PERSONS ARRESTED FOR CLAIMING PACKAGE OF SHABU

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested two persons for claiming a package which contained 3.5 kilos of shabu on Wednesday afternoon. Customs District III Collector Ramon Anquilan said Michael Espino Cruz of Parañaque City and his companion Rachelle Hilario Dela Cruz tried to claim the package at the FedEx warehouse in PAL/PSI building near the NAIA terminal. The shabu shipment in a black box was sent by a certain Jason Lee of California. Commissioner Isidro Lapeña of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said it arrived on December 8 via FedEx flight from the United States and was found in the warehouse on December 11. Customs-FedEx head supervisor Manny Mamadra waited for it to be claimed. Anquilan said it was declared as toys. “The suspicious image shown during X-ray inspection prompted the physical examination of the package. The matter was referred to the Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force for initial drug test which resulted positive for shabu, “Lapeña said. The shipment, which was turned over to PDEA was worth about P17.5 million.

PAL TO DEPLOY LARGER AIRCRAFT TO HK; CEB TAIPEI- MANILA FLIGHT RESCHEDULED

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) will be using larger aircraft to accommodate Filipino domestic workers stranded in Hong Kong after encountering problems with their travel agent. PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said that Airbus A330 will be dispatched to Hong Kong on December 22 and 23 and on January 3 and 4 to give the workers an opportunity to avail of seats out of Hong Kong. Villaluna said that the airline is providing additional capacity on the Manila-Hong KongManila route by upgrading the aircraft from the originally assigned 199-seater Airbus A321 to the 309-seater A330. Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) flight 5J310 (Manila-Taipei) and return flight 5J311 ( Taipei-Manila) has been rescheduled, CEB said on Thursdaydue to the late turnaround of the aircraft assigned to these flights, which would be unable to beat the scheduled runway closure at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The original estimated time of departure for 5J310 at 11: 40 p. m. (December 20) was delayed to 5: 30 a. m. Thursday (December 21) with estimated time of arrival at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 7: 55 a. m. Flight 5J311 original estimated time of departure at 4 a. m. (December 21) will depart Taipei at 9: 50 a. m. with estimated time of arrival in Manila at 12: 15 p. m. CEB said, “Our airport staff in Manila are assisting affected passengers who are already at NAIA terminal 3, while the CEB ground handler in Taipei has been alerted to extend assistance.”