MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police – Aviation Security Group (AVSEGROUP) arrested two Filipinos and nine foreigners for carrying undeclared large sums of money at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
Those arrested reportedly tried to secretly transport the money on Friday, May 9, on a chartered flight, but were caught by the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) personnel at the airport’s General Aviation Area (GAA).
Aviation police document the over P400 million cash seized at the MCIA General Aviation Area. AVSEGROUP PHOTO
Airport authorities said that the suspects arrived at MCIA on Friday from Manila at around 9 p.m., visited a resort and casino in Cebu City, and then returned to the airport at 11 p.m. in a van with seven trolley bags for their flight back to Manila.
Police said that the group bypassed the GAA security measures, prompting GAA personnel to raise alert status.
During the x-ray inspection, authorities found a large sum of money.
AVSEGROUP said the suspects consisted of seven Chinese, an Indonesian, a Kazakhstani, and two Filipinos. Among the seven Chinese, two had been flagged by Interpol.
The money, with a total amount of P441,922,542.37, which includes the peso-converted amounts of US$168,730 and HK$1,000, is held at the General Aviation terminal.
The suspects are also being held for further investigation.
