Male passenger arrested at NAIA with P33.6M undeclared cash

A Filipino male passenger was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 for allegedly carrying undeclared cash totaling USD580,000 (PHP32.48 million) and PHP1.2 million.

The undeclared money was discovered during a manual baggage inspection after a routine X-ray screening of the passenger's checked-in baggage bound for Hong Kong.

The passenger's only statement was: 'Employed driver lang po ako' ('I'm just a hired driver').

Authorities, including the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group, flagged the passenger.

The passenger may face charges for violating the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the New Central Bank Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, as well as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' manual of regulations on foreign exchange transactions.

The passenger and the intercepted cash are in the custody of the Bureau of Customs.