MANILA – With criminals taking advantage of balikbayan (repatriate) boxes sent by Filipino workers abroad, the amount of dried marijuana or kush seized by the government authorities has reached over PHP470 million in the last three weeks.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP) said the marijuana kush hidden in balikbayan boxes in different shipments come from Thailand where cannabis is legal.
“Legal dun ang marijuana. Madali makabili (Marijuana there (Thailand) is legal. It is easy to buy),” the CIIS said in a statement on Thursday.
Thailand will ban the recreational use of marijuana by the end of the year but its use for medical purposes will continue, Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew told news agency Reuters in a Feb. 29 report.
Thailand was the first country in Southeast Asia to allow medicinal use in 2018, followed by the legalization of recreational use in 2022, resulting in the sprouting of thousands of cannabis shops.
However, the government also realized how it is being misused and wants to revisit the law.
On March 18, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized six balikbayan boxes containing 132.28 kilograms of kush worth PHP158.7 million.
The shipment was consigned to a certain Mary Gail Quesada and Rainier Quesada via the Marcelo D. Laylo Cargo Forwarders.
Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the BOC has intensified its campaign against the shipment of illegal drugs.
“Sending balikbayan boxes is the simple tradition of Filipinos of giving gifts to their families and friends, but look how these criminal elements use them to smuggle illegal drugs into our country,” BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said in a previous statement.
He assured that no matter how many times criminals try, BOC will fully utilize its agents and resources to monitor shipment and foil smuggling attempts.
The BOC also intercepted an estimated PHP238.2 million worth of dried marijuana hidden inside 12 balikbayan boxes at the MICP on March 12.
CIIS Director Verne Enciso said the balikbayan boxes consigned to different consignees have undergone 100 percent physical examination where they discovered the illegal drugs.
Five balikbayan boxes found to contain 126 packages of marijuana with a total weight of 65,000 grams with an estimated value of PHP78 million were consigned to Gerard Cruz and Erika Cruz.
Another batch of five balikbayan boxes containing 138 packages of marijuana with an estimated weight of 70,000 grams and worth PHP84 million were consigned to BKKCHCF SHN.
Two balikbayan boxes consigned to Jonathan/Francis Ayala were also found with marijuana with total weight of 63,500 and estimated to be worth around PHP76.2 million, concealed in food packages and blankets.
Enciso said the shipment was originally declared as consolidated balikbayan boxes and personal effects from Thailand.
On Feb. 27, the BOC also found approximately 63 kilos of marijuana kush with an estimated value of PHP76 million from Thailand.
Enciso said the consignees, senders and recipients of the balikbayan boxes will possibly face charges in violation of Section 118 (prohibited importation and exportation) and Section 1400 (misdeclaration) in goods declaration in relation to Section 1113 (property subject to seizure and forfeiture) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002). (PNA)
