Six suitcases that seemed to hold nothing more than food turned out to contain roughly 18.68 kilograms of suspected high-grade marijuana, leading to the arrest of three Filipino travelers who had just landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 from Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday, September 24, 2026.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-NAIA placed the haul, locally known as kush, at 18,679 grams with an estimated value of P18,679,000. The three passengers remain in detention and face charges for violating Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Scrutiny of the bags started at the scanner. A customs X-ray inspector noticed suspicious images in the luggage, prompting an alert to the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, airport authorities and the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group, the Daily Tribune reported. A Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency K9 unit then brought in a narcotics detection dog named “Turbo,” which signaled by scratching at the bags.
A hands-on search at the Customs Secondary Inspection Area followed. According to the Tribune, officers pulled out 61 transparent, vacuum-sealed plastic packs of suspected kush from the six pieces of luggage, with each suspect carrying two bags. The Manila Bulletin reported that the baggage had been declared as foodstuff.
All three suspects are men in their early 20s, the Tribune said. Authorities have not released their names.
Travelers arriving from the Thai capital have figured in several large marijuana interceptions at the Manila airport this year. On July 30, 2026, customs personnel at the same terminal arrested four Filipinos from Bangkok after about 41,551 grams of suspected marijuana, valued at P62.326 million, were found in their eight bags, the Journal reported. Weeks earlier, 8.91 kilograms of kush were seized at NAIA Terminal 1 from a passenger who flew in from Bangkok on June 4, according to The Manila Times.
The BOC said examination and verification of the seized items are still underway, and that more details will be disclosed once the concerned authorities complete their validation.
