Authorities at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 intercepted a Filipino male passenger bound for Hong Kong on the morning of 25 June after discovering undeclared cash bundles in his baggage.

Airport personnel and members of the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP) flagged the passenger during a manual inspection. They found P1.2 million and $580,000 USD in undeclared cash.

Under Section 4, Chapter 1 of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions, individuals entering or exiting the Philippines with foreign currency or currency-denominated bearer instruments exceeding $10,000 USD or its equivalent are required to declare the full amount using a prescribed Currency Declaration Form.

According to PNP-AVSEGROUP, citing the NAIA Terminal 3 case investigator, the passenger’s only statement was, “I’m just a hired driver.”

The passenger and the confiscated currency are now in the custody of the Bureau of Customs for serial number identification and further investigation.