(Eagle News)– Intelligence reports from United States led to the arrest of Jonjon Villamin Jr., who flew to Manila from Dubai, for attempting to smuggle 4.8 kilograms of cocaine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Sunday.
Operatives from Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) found the narcotics inside Villamin’s luggage.
Customs officials said they received reports about a passenger with a check-in luggage containing cocaine.
Villamin said the luggage was given to him by a Brazilian who treated him to a trip in Brazil.
He denied being a smuggler, saying he was not aware that his luggage contained illegal drugs.
The US Embassy on Wednesday congratulated authorities for the arrest of Villamin.
“Congratulations to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and member agencies of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group on the arrest of Jonjon Villamin, Jr. We are especially pleased that information from the US Embassy’s Drug Enforcement Administration Office was instrumental in making this arrest, a testament to our longstanding bilateral counter-narcotics and law enforcement coordination,” the statement said.