A newly arrived Malaysian national was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday for the possession of illegal drugs worth more than P25 million.

The Bureau of Customs Port of NAIA identified the suspected on Friday as Mohammad Ahtsham bin Mohammad Afzal, a 27-year-old man who arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 via an Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa.

BoC-NAIA said that the illegal drugs were discovered when an X-ray examiner saw a suspicious image on Afzal's luggage.

The luggage was then subjected to a 100 percent physical examination, during which customs officials found two improvised pouches wrapped in brown packaging tape hidden inside.

The authorities discovered that the two pouches contained a total of 3,722 grams of suspected shabu, with an estimated value of P25,309,600.

Methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as shabu, was detected in a field test on the illegal substances, the BoC-NAIA said.

Afzal was immediately arrested and turned over to the custody of the NAIA Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. He and the illegal drugs were brought to PDEA main office in Quezon City for further investigation.