PDEA takes custody of ₱30.780 million of illegal drugs seized at Port of Clark

Port’s vigilance resulted to seizure of another ₱33.945 million worth of shabu

On May 4, 2026

Bureau of Customs Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement (DCE) Nolasco Bathan, also a retired police general, explains the circumstances leading to the seizure of more than ₱30.780 million worth of illeghal drugs at the Port of Clark. At left is District Collector Jairus Reyes (photo: BOC-PIAD).

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) more than ₱30.780 million of ‘Ketamine’ previously seized at the Port of Clark as part of both agencies’ strengthened agreement they inked under the leadership of Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno.

The seized illegal drugs were intercepted at the Port of Clark during the latter part of March 2026, following derogatory information received by the BOC from PDEA, underscoring the effective and sustained intelligence sharing between the two agencies.

The shipment, weighing 6.156 kilos, was found hidden within a wooden spool for cable wires.

Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement (DCE) Nolascao Bathan, also a retired police general, represented Commissioner Nepomuceno during the simple turnover ceremony at the Port of Clark, together with District Collector Jairus Reyes.

DCE Bathan also noted that as of April, the BOC has already seized ₱2.531 billion worth of illegal drugs and six criminal cases related to the smuggling of illegal drugs have been filed at the Department of Justice covering the period January 2025 to April 2026.

In a related development, Reyes also reported the interception of a shipment of shabu worth ₱33.945 million by the port’s inter-agency task force against illegal drugs (CRK-IATFAID).

The official added the contraband has a total weight of 4.992 kilos.

Over 2 kilos of the shabu were discovered concealed inside a shipment of ‘air filters’ from South Africa with forwarding address in Batangas that arrived on March 30.

Another shipment described as “textbooks and briefcase” that arrived the following day from Uganda and consigned to an address in Dasmariñas City, Cavite, was found to contain 582 grams or more than half a kilo of shabu.

The third and fourth parcels, which arrived on April 2 from Zimbabwe and were both bound for Las Piñas City, were declared as “Documents.”

Upon inspection, authorities found black leather cases in each parcel concealing carbon paper-wrapped packages containing white crystalline substances with a combined weight of approximately 2.17 kilos of shabu.

The fifth parcel, which arrived on April 8, 2026, from Delaware, USA, and bound for Taguig City, Metro Manila, was declared as “Polyester Clothing” but was also found to contain 230 grams of shabu.