Authorities seized more than four kilograms of suspected shabu concealed inside a traveler’s luggage at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City, the Philippine National Police reported Saturday.

PNP chief P/Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. said the operation was conducted by the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) and resulted in the arrest of an Australian national for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The operation, conducted at the Customs Exclusion Room of the Customs International Arrival Area, began when a black backpack passed through an X-ray machine. A Customs X-ray inspector detected a suspicious image believed to indicate illegal substances and alerted NAIA-IADITG authorities.

A subsequent K9 inspection by a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency team confirmed the presence of illegal drugs after a narcotics detection dog alerted on the luggage.

A physical examination by the assigned seizing officer uncovered two improvised wooden boxes wrapped in colored paper and concealed inside the backpack.

A field test using a Rigaku Raman spectrometer yielded positive results for methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as shabu.

Authorities confiscated one black backpack containing approximately 4,008 grams of white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu, with a standard drug price of P27,254,400.

The foreign national and the seized evidence were turned over to the NAIA-IADITG Operations Center for documentation and proper disposition.

“This operation shows that our airport controls are active,” Nartatez said. “We will arrest anyone who violates the law and attempts to bring illegal drugs into the country.”

He added that the police would continue efforts to stop drug trafficking at ports of entry, noting that each interdiction prevents illegal drugs from reaching communities.