South African model nabbed for smuggling cocaine

MANILA, Philippines - A South African model was caught with 8.5 kilograms of cocaine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Friday.

PDEA chief Arturo Cacdac Jr. identified the arrested female model as Debbie Penz Reyneke, 24.

Cacdac said Reyneke arrived on board Emirates Airways flight EK 332 from Dubai at the NAIA Terminal 1, around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Upon thorough inspection of Reyneke’s trolley bag, the duty customs examiner discovered 8.5 kilograms of cocaine packed in a cellophane and carbon paper concealed inside 39 pieces of foil-packed powdered drink items.

Cacdac said the drugs recovered from the South African model was worth more than P40 million.

He said that based on the flight details manifested in her passport, Reyneke came from Argentina and Peru before her scheduled flight to the Philippines.

Reyneke, who is temporarily under the custody of the PDEA Regional Office-National Capital Region in Quezon City , will be charged with transportation of dangerous drugs (Section 5), Article II, Republic Act 9165, or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said on Friday.