Express delivery, shipping and courier services firm LBC is in hot water after millions of pesos worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) were found inside balikbayan boxes that originated in the United States and were seized by the Bureau of Customs in July 2025.

In a roundtable discussion with DAILY TRIBUNE editors and management last week, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno revealed that the P749.63 million worth of shabu concealed inside several balikbayan boxes on board a 1×40-foot cargo container had markings for LBC.

He said that although the issue of balikbayan boxes is highly political, he no longer cares, since the 32 boxes flagged were indeed found to contain shabu, as confirmed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“I ordered those boxes to be stripped because they contained drugs, based on the information. Those balikbayan boxes are from LBC, a huge company. And it turned out, after confirmatory testing by the PDEA, the 32 boxes contained shabu,” he said.

An earlier BoC report said samples were immediately extracted and submitted to the PDEA for confirmatory testing. Laboratory results later confirmed that the recovered substances were indeed methamphetamine hydrochloride.

“So it means that the balikbayan boxes are now being taken advantage of as being tax-free,” he stressed.

Sending a balikbayan box is duty- or tax-free if the sender is a Filipino overseas. The total value of shipments sent within the calendar year should not exceed P150,000. Any excess item is subject to value-added tax, duty, and excise tax.

In a separate report by the BoC–Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, the contraband, which was the subject of an alert on 13 June 2025, was named to importer XYZ Global Express under broker Michelle Mae Salarda.

The boxes, declared as household goods and personal effects, arrived at the Manila International Container Port on 6 June onboard OOCL Utah 075W.

US retaliation?

Nepomuceno said they immediately summoned a representative of the United States Homeland Security to alert them to the massive amount of illegal substances that arrived in the country from America through LBC.

Then, in July, or days after the BoC asked for an explanation from the US Homeland Security, the US Department of State released its report tagging BoC as “one of the most corrupt agencies in the country.”

“I guess it’s their retaliation against us. We may be a small nation, but it is still our own. Imagine those drugs coming from Southern California, USA, which once came from China, Mexico, among others. That’s now one of the problems of our balikbayan boxes,” he said.

DAILY TRIBUNE tried to get LBC’s side on the incident, to no avail.

The revelations put further pressure on the BoC as drug syndicates exploit balikbayan shipments to evade detection.

Nepomuceno admitted that tighter screening could slow the release of packages, a sensitive issue for Filipinos who rely on these deliveries from loved ones abroad.

About 22,000 balikbayan boxes are currently awaiting release at the country’s ports. Hundreds of complaints have been filed over delayed or undelivered boxes. Nepomuceno said outdated X-ray scanners make it difficult to detect hidden contraband, allowing illegal goods to slip through.

Sentimental value

He explained that some shipping containers are only half-filled with legitimate balikbayan boxes, while smuggled goods occupy the remaining space. “Inspectors often open only the visible portion containing the boxes, leaving the rest unchecked,” he said.

Smugglers, Nepomuceno noted, exploit the government’s leniency toward balikbayan boxes, aware of their sentimental importance. “They know how much the government values the hard work and sacrifices of our OFWs,” he said.

Another source of delay, he added, is the failure of some consolidators abroad to pay port charges and taxes. While overseas workers pay up to $120 per box, their local partners sometimes abandon shipments, leaving the boxes stranded. Families then blame the BoC, while consolidators point fingers back at port authorities.

Nepomuceno also cited the absence of a consolidated list of compliant freight and forwarding firms. Some companies, despite multiple sanctions, remain accredited by the Department of Trade and Industry.

“These firms should lose their accreditation,” he said, calling them major contributors to port congestion and abandoned boxes.

He urged reforms within the BoC, focusing on digitization, transparency, and modernized scanning systems to curb corruption and prevent smuggling.

With the Christmas season approaching, these logistical and security problems are expected to worsen, delaying more boxes meant to bring joy to Filipino families —and perhaps concealing a few more surprises best left unopened.