Bullet Planting Modus Operandi

dont take any luggage.

( think outside the box )

Really, really nasty thought - suppose someone planted some heroin in your luggage and you were flying to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia?

ive only ever flown on a package holiday---sooo

isnt the someway a person can send there luggage on ahead-?-sealed by customs and declared to be safe.

Yes.

There is a Filipina drug mule under stay of execution in Indonesia at the moment.

Yes, it is a death sentence in those countries.

I don't they would try it with drugs here in the Philippines though.
First, it's more expensive to acquire than a bullet.
So more 'capital' needed by the scammers.

Second, they will need to stash those drugs somewhere in the airport.
The K-9 unit will go haywire if they get a whiff of it.

Third, it will be not be 'pay and off you go' anymore. Drug possession is much higher
in criminal scale. It will warranty a mandatory investigation which the scammers want to avoid.
They want the easy pickings.

It would be much easier and more economical to just sell the drugs.

I must say that this story is taking on a characteristic Filipino quality.

It is going into Infinite Improbability Drive. The nation's news media are going berserk over dishonest security staff planting bullets in luggage left right and centre and the head of Avseco says there is no problem but Filipinos really should think about using bullets as amulets!

A Fil-Am was subject to this last night

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/11/04/1518260/ofw-filipino-american-77-latest-victims

Duterte is apparently offering to pay for lawyers to assist any Dabowenyos caught up in this scam.

Ah stuff it, this is the bag I'm taking to Pinas with me

CDN are reporting similar in MCIA though quite a distinction between amulets and "live" bullets here.

http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/73225/no-tanim-bala-in-mactan

NBI probes bullet planting; UN issues warning

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has tasked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the increasing laglag-bala (bullet planting) incidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Even as the government ordered a probe, security personnel of the United Nations were warned against falling victim to the scheme.

The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) responsible for the security of UN staff sent an internal memo on Tuesday advising its personnel to lock their bags and even wrap them in plastic if passing through NAIA.

“Officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are allegedly slipping bullets into passengers’ bags and then trying to extort money from them when bullets are ‘found’ by security,” the UNDSS memo said.

The memo also said “surveillance at the airport has been stepped up since the complaints began and an investigation has been launched into the personnel accused of involvement.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it took note of the UN advisory as it gave assurance authorities are now investigating the incidents.

“We note the report on UN advisory. We likewise note that relevant authorities in the Philippines are looking into this laglag-bala matter,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/11/05/1518515/nbi-probes-bullet-planting-un-issues-warning

Read more here

http://www.rappler.com/nation/polit...-mar-roxas-laglag-bala-carrier-responsibility

Yet this President candidate still denies the issue.

Oh well, he and his wife don't care about international organisations anyway.

Remember the Mar Roxas/Korina Sanchez and the CNN/Anderson Cooper issue?

http://www.rappler.com/nation/polit...icate?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral

Ooops...

Damage control.

There seems more to this as 4 more were caught with bullets on Tuesday and some of them admitted they packed them!!

Do some Filipino`s really carry these around as "lucky charms whilst travelling"??
A Filipino tradition?
Blame it on the WoK WoK!




4 More People Arrested on Same Day at NAIA for Bullet Planting Scam – One An Elderly Fil-Am

MANILA, Philippines – The bullet-planting scam at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has just taken on a whole new level of stupidity – on Tuesday alone, four people, including an elderly Fil-Am passenger, were taken into custody for having bullets in their luggage.

Authorities said ‘not one of them disputed the claim brought against them,’ however stories of ‘he said – she said’ seem to making their way around the halls of NAIA as of lately.

The only person to dispute the fact was the 77-year-old Santiago Peñaflorida’s daughter, who claimed in disbelief that the ammunition found her in father’s bag had to be planted.

Santiago Peñaflorida was said to be headed to Los Angeles, California aboard Philippine Airlines.

He was stopped at 6 p.m. at the initial security screening checkpoint at NAIA terminal #2 after security personnel saw the bullet on X-ray monitors inside of his locked backpack.

His daughter went ‘ballistic’ and accused security personnel of planting the ammunition in his bag – security officials refused to open the backpack and waited until members of the media arrived.

Peñaflorida calmly stated that they had already departed from the Iloilo Airport before landing at NAIA where no bullet was detected or discovered.

Once the duo decided to open the backpack themselves, a .32 cal. bullet was discovered inside – Peñaflorida, who conceded, was invited for questioning to the Avsegroup-NCR headquarters.

Earlier that same day, 27-year-old Marilou Rose Espinola, who was bound for Bacolod at NAIA terminal #3 was also discovered to have a bullet in her luggage.

The bullet was discovered at 9:30 a.m. in her hand-carry-on bag after it went through X-ray at the initial security screening checkpoint at the departure area at gate #2.

Espinola told security officials that she had brought the bullet with her after discovering it in Quezon City, she said she did not know that it was a prohibited item at the airport.

At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 33-year-old Rowena Otic of Nueva Ecija was sending off her one sibling bound for Dubai when she was intercepted at NAIA terminal #3 for carrying two .38 cal. bullets, each one placed in a separate red pouch.

Otic told reports that she always carries the bullets as her protections against hexes or any other forms of danger – she admitted that she forgot to take them out of handbag, saying “I also thought only passengers were inspected and arrested for having bullets,” – the bullets, she added, were given to her by a healer.

Two hours later, at approximately 4 p.m. 48-year-old Milagrosa Candiente was apprehended at gate #6 in terminal #3 after a 9mm cal. bullet was discovered in her wallet.

Once again the bullet was encased in a red pouch – she admitted that she knew the bullets were banned from the airport but she forgot to take her ‘charm’ out of her bag.

Cadiente said she was at NAIA to pickup her employer who was returning from Japan – she called on lawmakers to amend the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act and consider Filipino’s observance to tradition.

“It is just stupid to put people in jail for having one or two bullets. They have to understand that Filipinos carry them as charms,” she angrily noted.

All four suspects are set to be charged with illegal possession of ammunition under the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act in the Pasay City prosecutor’s office.

On a side note, several social media chat sites have noted the Filipino tradition of carrying bullets when traveling, or for the sacred use of warding off evil – today’s arrests show that two of the four taken into custody were in fact carrying the bullets for that very noted reason.

Oddly, media in the Philippines tends to skirt the issue of carrying bullets for the use of warding off spirits and hoaxes which are heavily embedded in Filipino tradition.



http://philippinesli...elderly-fil-am/

It's still unclear to me just where these "bullets" are getting discovered.
Is it at the extrance to the airport where those x-ray machines scan everything ?
or at the second x-ray after check-in but before boarding where only carry-on bags are taken ?

M16 Bullet found in woman's bag

A Filipino woman, who was scheduled for a vacation in London, ended up missing her flight yesterday after security personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) allegedly found a bullet for an M-16 rifle in the medicine pouch inside her carry-on bag.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/11/05/1518517/m-16-bullet-found-womans-bag