When an American arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), authorities detained him after discovering alleged cocaine worth about P20 million in his suitcase.
According to a report by Nico Waje on GMA News’ Unang Balita on Wednesday, the culprit has been named Stephen Joseph Szuhar, 75, an American citizen.
Szuhar had never been to the Philippines before. He left Brazil and took a ticket to Doha, Qatar, where he connected to a flight to Manila, the Philippines, where he allegedly obtained money from a bank.
Following a tip, NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group members waited for Szuhar. In the suspect’s suitcase, they discovered more than 3 kilograms of purported cocaine believed to be worth P19.6 million.
“Nagsimula po ito sa isang intelligence information na galing sa ating counterparts po na wherein a certain individual po ay magdadala ng undetermined amount ng illegal drugs dito,” IA3 Gerald Javier said.
(It started with intelligence information from our counterparts that a particular individual would bring an undetermined amount of illegal drugs here.)
But the suspect claimed he did not own the illegal substances, which may have been put in his luggage without him knowing.
American arrested in NAIA with P20M worth of alleged cocaine in suitcase
He said that he did not inspect the luggage contents before being requested to deliver it to a bank chief in the Philippines along with a bag of clothes.
“The bank in Brazil told me they were going to send some clothes to the bank here in Manila,” the American suspect said.
As a former president of a casino in the US, he said he is wealthy and does not need to traffic in illegal substances to increase his wealth.
“I don’t need to sell cocaine. I have $600 million of my own in my life and about 400 million. We don’t need money to sell cocaine, believe me,” the suspect said.
The American answered: “Yes, I am. So you think I’m going to waste my time to get cocaine to somebody? That is stupid,” when asked if he was rich.
The suspect also claimed to be Charlize Theron’s husband.
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