A 26-year-old Filipino female tattoo artist was taken into custody by the PNP Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP) and NAIA PDEA-IADITG officials on Wednesday evening, 3 April, at the NAIA Terminal 3 final security checkpoint, after the authorities discovered illegal drugs in her possession.

According to the NAIA PDEA-IADITG report, the female passenger was stopped by the Office for Transportation Security Screening Security Officer (OTS-SSO) as she was about to board her flight on AirAsia flight Z2503 to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The OTS-SSO detected a Swiss knife and scissors on her hand-carried bag at the x-ray machine during the final security check procedures.

A plastic sachet containing dried marijuana leaves was also found by the OTS-SSO during the physical inspection of her hand-carried bag, and it was immediately reported to the PNP-AVSEGROUP.

The authority said that the female passenger was supposed to compete in Malaysia for a tattoo competition, but she was arrested by the airport authority after she was found to be in possession of approximately 3.8 grams of marijuana.

The said passenger will face charges for violation of Section 26 in relation to Sec. 5 Art. II of RA 9165.