19-year-old Girl Victimized in NAIA Manila airport Bullet Planting Scam

NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) Manila's airport for two years in the row was voted as the worst airport in the world (Sleeping in Airports), this year due to minor facelift they actually improved for the worst to the 8th worst airport in Asia. But now NAIA seems to want to achieve the top spot again with a new scam called "lag lag bala (Bullet Planting Scam)" believed to be executed by airport security guards and other airport employees. Once the bag planted with bullets gone through security x-ray checkpoint the bullet will be found and victims will be threatened with charges of illegal possession of ammunition unless they pay a fine.

Victims reported on the media now includes:

- 20-year-old Lane Michael White who is a American missionary, Office for Transportation Security (OTS) of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) found  .22-cal. bullet found inside his baggage. He was jailed for 6 days and got out only after posting a P40,000 bail.

- Rhed Austria de Guzman a Wheelchair-bound American woman who bribed an OTS with P500 so that she'll be cleared for her flight back to California. Two .22-caliber bullets were found in one of the pockets of her luggage.

- Gloria Ortinez, a 56-year-old domestic worker who is going to Hong Kong to return to her job as stopped at the airport after a bullet was found in her carry-on luggage.

- Kazunobu Sakamoto, a 33-year-old Japanese tourist, was also arrested after two bullets were discovered inside the pocket of a shirt folded in his luggage.

- 19-year-old girl who is a student was also stopped and wasn't able to board the plane when a bullet was found inside her sling bag discovered by NAIA Terminal 3 personnel. She is a member of Los Cantates de Manila choir and was on her way for an international competition in Busan, South Korea.

- 60-year-old engineer Augusto Dagan was arrested by authorities at the Davao International Airport after he was found with two 9-millimeter bullets inside his luggage. It is believed that the bullets were planted in NAIA but the bullets was discovered in Davao.


A source said that this scam has been going on even before and they target 20 victims a day.