Foreign ‘drug mules’ nabbed at NAIA
The arrested South African and Norwegian were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to serve as the lead agency in filing charges against them.

THE shabu was discovered in the false compartment of the South African’s luggage. | Photograph by Al Padilla for the daily tribune @tribunephl_al
Attempts by two female foreigners to bring drugs into the country Thursday and Friday were foiled by authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Bureau of Customs reported Saturday.
Arrested at NAIA Terminal 3 at 1 a.m. Friday was Irene Caroline Botha, 40, said to be a manager of a safari lodge back in South Africa.
Arriving from Johannesburg, South Africa, Botha yielded 13.565 kilos of shabu worth P92 million hidden in a false compartment of her luggage.
The white powdery substance was confirmed to be shabu through a field test conducted by the Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force.
The Norwegian passenger, Rose Alex Moi, was nabbed Thursday evening after her baggage was found through X-ray and physical inspection to contain 8.34 kilos of shabu worth P56.7 million.
Suspected to have served as drug couriers or "mules," the South African and Norwegian were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to serve as the lead agency in filing charges against them.
The women are facing charges of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Law, in relation to the illegal importation of banned items.
An X-ray examiner alerted customs and PDEA operatives after seeing something suspicious in the luggage of Moi, 59, a nurse by profession. A drug-sniffing dog checked her belongings before they were subjected to a full physical inspection.
NAIA authorities were tipped off about the arrival of Mois from Dubai with illegal drugs.
Last August, a passenger also from South Africa was arrested after attempting to bring P144.3 million of shabu into the country.
