PHILIPPINES CUSTOMS SEIZE $5.5 MLN WORTH OF 'ICE'

MANILA, - Philippine customs police seized 108 kg
(237 lb) of methamphetamines, or "ice," from a container van from
China on Wednesday, officials said.

Customs commissioner Nelson Tan said the narcotics were worth 216
million pesos ($5.5 million) and represented one of the biggest
shipments of prohibited drugs confiscated in the Philippines in recent
years.

The van was brought in on a ship which arrived last week from China
via Hong Kong, Tan told reporters.

Police said the consignee, a local trader who could not be located,
had declared the shipment contained lead ingots.

The Philippines' tough laws punishes drug traffickers with
death.

Officials estimate the annual traffic in "ice" at 204 billion pesos or
more than a third of the national budget. Users number 1.7 million,
many of them high school students.