Bureau of Customs personnel destroy OFW's toy plane

Suspecting it contained contraband, Bureau of Customs (BOC) agents destroyed a toy plane owned by an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Hong Kong only to find it was empty.

In a viral video, a BOC agent stationed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) can be seen smashing Rachelle Anne Ramos’ plane figure after allegedly detecting an object inside it following an X-ray scan, Ian Cruz reported on “24 Oras” on Monday.

Ramos said she was trying to catch her connecting flight to Laoag City when airport personnel stopped her. She said the BOC agent ran her belongings through the X-ray machine twice and had a sniffer dog check whether belongings contained contraband.

“Baka akala nila may droga nga…There’s something inside nga doon na ako nagtaka,” she said.

(Maybe they were thinking there were drugs inside. That’s why I was puzzled.)

To speed up the process and catch her flight Ramos said she allowed the BOC personnel to destroy her toy. There was nothing inside.

“Mas maganda if mag upgrade sila ng X-ray machine. Yung talagang malinaw yung image na sinasabi nila, ‘There’s something image inside the plane’. Confident sila sa sarili nila na kung ano nasa loob ng plane,” Ramos said.

(It would be better if they acquired a better X-ray machine so the images would be clear. They were confident there was something inside the toy.)

BOC Assistant Commissioner and Spokesperson Vincent Maronilla apologized for the incident and said they would heed the OFW’s suggestion to improve the screening of passengers’ luggage. — Sundy Mae Locus/DVM, GMA Integrated News