Engineer nabbed at MCIA with 'drug paraphernalia'

CEBU, Philippines — A man who was on his way home to Manila was intercepted at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) allegedly carrying a glass tooter with residue of suspected shabu and other drug paraphernalia on Wednesday afternoon, November 22, 2023.

Personnel of the Office for Transportation Security-DOTR Mactan Station, PDEA-7 Airport Interdiction Unit, and PNP AVSEU-7 caught at the final screening Eric Larga, 53, a civil engineer from Las Piñas City, who came to Cebu for a vacation.

When Larga's bag went through the x-ray machine, authorities found that it had three lighters. Lighters are on the list of items passengers are strictly not allowed to carry on the airplane.

After searching his bag, authorities also recovered one glass tooter that had residue which looked like shabu, and an improvised black scoop.

This prompted PDEA-7 to conduct a field test on the residue on the glass tooter, which then tested positive for shabu. The said paraphernalia has been submitted to the PDEA-7 laboratory for confirmatory testing.

A case for Section 12 Article Il of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act will be filed against the Larga. — /ATO (FREEMAN)