A shipment containing P1.8 billion worth of suspected illegal drugs was seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) Friday night.

The cargo declared as plastic resin contained inside a 40-foot container arrived in the Manila North Harbor last Friday.

The container was on board the ship Callo Bridge (14E) from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and consigned to Wealth Lotus Empire Corporation.

Customs and PDEA personnel recovered 276 kilograms of shabu worth P1,876,800,000 hidden inside plastic resin.

"These shabu are wrapped in a Chinese tea wrapper," PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said in a press conference.

Aquino also said it is possible similar shipments containing suspected illegal drugs have arrived.

"That's a possibility that's why BOC and PDEA remain vigilant to detect and intercept such kind of shipment. That's our focus as of now, the big sources of drugs that are coming in from different countries," he explained. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS