Filipino passenger caught with undeclared cash bundles

A Filipino male passenger bound for Hong Kong was intercepted at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on the morning of 25 June after authorities discovered undeclared bundles of cash.

Airport personnel and members of the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP) flagged the passenger after a manual inspection of his baggage revealed undeclared cash amounting to ₱1.2 million and USD 580,000.

Under Section 4, Chapter 1 of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions, any individual bringing into or out of the Philippines foreign currency or currency-denominated bearer instruments exceeding USD 10,000 or its equivalent must declare the full amount using the prescribed Currency Declaration Form.

The only statement the passenger reportedly gave, according to PNP-AVSEGROUP citing NAIA Terminal 3’s case investigator, was: “Employed driver lang po ako” (“I’m just a hired driver”).

The passenger, along with the intercepted currency, is now in the custody of the Bureau of Customs for serial number identification and further investigation.