Authorities arrested four arriving airline passengers who allegedly attempted to smuggle nearly 42 kilograms of marijuana valued at over P62.7 million at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3, officials said Friday.

The suspects, who arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, on 30 July, were intercepted after X-ray screening flagged suspicious images in their luggage, according to the Bureau of Customs.

A sniffer dog from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) indicated the presence of narcotics, prompting inspectors to conduct a complete physical search of the bags.

Officers found approximately 41,851 grams of suspected marijuana concealed inside the luggage, with an estimated street value of P62,776,500, Customs officials said.

The operation was conducted jointly by the Bureau of Customs, the PDEA, the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, and the Bureau of Immigration.

The four passengers were taken into PDEA custody and face charges of drug importation under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 in relation to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.