A Malaysian was nabbed at the airport Wednesday morning by Bureau of Customs officials after he was caught in possession of 14 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu worth P80 million.

Teoh Chee Keong, 41, of Selangor, Malaysia, arrived on Wednesday morning from Bangkok, Thailand, aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR337.

In a report filed by Deputy Collector for Passenger Services Thess Roque to Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, it was learned that Teoh was traveling with another Malaysian passenger whom they identified as a certain Richard Oh.

Roque said airline records showed that both Teoh and Oh checked-in and were even seated beside each other during the flight.

Teoh was the first to approach the examination counter manned by Duty Collector Silver Salazar and Examiner Elizabeth Pableo. While going over Teoh's bag, Pableo noticed that the bag was still very heavy despite all of the belongings removed which aroused her curiosity.

With the help of Salazar, who is a seasoned examiner, a false bottom was discovered revealing seven re-sealable plastic bags containing one kilogram of crystaline substance each.

When asked what was inside the plastic bags, Teoh denied knowing anything about it. He then said that someone at the Bangkok airport approached him before checking-in and offered him a new bag as his luggage was damaged. Teoh said he accepted the offer and that person even transferred his clothes to the new bag, not knowing that it had a false buttom.

A few minutes after the discovery of the drugs, Collector Salazar noticed that there was another bag, very similar to the one owned by Teoh, that was left behind at the baggage carousel.

Salazar had the bag retrieved from the carrousel and upon inspection, discovered that the baggage was checked-in by Teoh's companion, Richard Oh, and that its sequence number followed that of Teoh's bag.

Teoh denied knowing Oh but airline records show that the two checked-in together and were even seated together in the plane.

The Customs collector had the bag x-rayed and revealed that it also had the same false bottom containing the crystaline substance.

Customs Police officer Sherwin Andrada interrogated Teoh to find out who their local contacts are and to determine where Oh, his reported accomplice, could be hiding.

Collector Roque immediately ordered a review of the airport's closed-circuit television (CCTV) to find out how Oh was able to get out of the terminal and see if someone met him at the airport.

Roque has also coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to trace Teoh's accomplice who is now believed to be in hiding.

After initial tests proved the substance was high-grade shabu, Teoh was turned over to the PDEA who will file the proper charges against the Malaysian.