THE Zamboanga City local police filed Monday a criminal case against two suspected drug couriers arrested at the Zamboanga International Airport.
Charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 were Mohd Daud Arabani, 61, and Salim Sabtari, 42, both residents of Bongao town, Tawi-Tawi.
The suspects were arrested Friday while trying to slip through the airport some 19.8 kilograms of shabu with an estimated worth of P180 million. They were en route to the province of Tawi-Tawi.
Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Angel Palicbar, officer-in-charge of the case, said they have sufficient evidence to file an airtight case against the suspects.
Personnel from the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) manning the X-ray scan machines backed by Aviation Security Group arrested the suspects after they have discovered that the suspects’ luggage contained Methamphetamine Hydrochloride, locally known as shabu.
The OTS, an agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications, is in charge of the security at airport terminals in the country.
The shabu the suspects were bringing were concealed in boxes of powdered milk mixed together with packs of foodstuff in a carton box.
Initial investigation showed that the shabu shipment came from Manila and bound for Sandakan and Samporna in Sabah via the province of Tawi-Tawi.
The suspects are detained at the headquarters of the Zamboanga City Police Office. (Bong Garcia)