19 new X-ray machines installed at airports

Nineteen X-ray machines are being installed in the three terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), a move aimed to combat increasing smuggling and drug trafficking in airports, the Customs bureau said.

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said recently that two Rapiscan X-ray machines are now installed at NAIA Terminal 1 and another unit was set up at Terminal 3. Sixteen more X-rays will be installed at the three terminals of the airport, he added.

He said the additional 16 units include 10 brand new units of Fixed Baggage X-Ray Machine; seven brand new units of Hand-Carried Baggage X-Ray Machine; and two brand new units of Mobile X-Ray Machine.

“The previous pronouncement of President Duterte not to open hand carried bags and luggage is loud and clear. With these new X-rays, his orders will be well implemented,” Lapeña said.

X-ray examination of hand carried baggage is mandatory in the airports, “we can guard our borders while implementing the non-intrusive examination of bags,” he added.

Lapeña also attributed the interception of smuggled goods brought in to the country by airline passengers to the X-ray examinations.

Earlier, two Chinese passengers carrying smuggled skimming devices were intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 1 upon X-ray examination.

Gong Yongjie, 26, and Wang Ji, 22, both from Guangzhou, China arrived in the Philippines on board China Southern airline’s flight CZ 3091.

When their baggage was further examined, the customs examiner found 187 pieces of brand-new One Time Password (OTP) cards and 153 pieces of used ATM cards, debit cards and new SIM cards.