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Sinaloa cartel in cahoots with Chinese syndicates for Philippine ops - PDEA

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<p>MANILA - The Sinaloa cartel, a multibillion-dollar Mexican drug empire, has teamed up with Chinese syndicates to smuggle narcotics into the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Wednesday. </p><p>Sinaloa&#x27;s operations in the Philippines flourished even after the 2015 arrest of its then top 3 leader, <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/13/19/alleged-sinaloa-cartel-member-found-guilty-of-drug-trafficking">Horacio Herrera</a>, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Makati court earlier Wednesday, said PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino. </p><p>&quot;They&#x27;re the ones involved now in smuggling drugs using international service couriers,&quot; he told ANC. </p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s still continuing up to now. They have merged their operations with some notorious Chinese drug syndicates,&quot; he added. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1391666" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>In 2018 alone, authorities seized some P800 million worth of the cartel&#x27;s drug shipments, mostly methamphetamine, in the airports of Manila and Pampanga province, said Aquino. </p><p>This amid government&#x27;s continuing war on drugs, which has busted drug laboratories, syndicates, streel-level pushers and users. </p><p>The cartel, he said, also uses the country as a transshipment point of drugs heading to Las Vegas and California. </p><p>PDEA last week signed a deal with the Customs bureau that would allow anti-narcotics agents to search domestic and foreign vessels for chemicals and drug precursors, said Aquino.</p><p>The drug enforcement agency also aims to enhance intelligence efforts with its international counterparts, he said. </p><p>Sinaloa&#x27;s Herrera was caught selling P12 million worth of drugs to PDEA and police operatives at a Makati hotel in 2015. He has denied being part of the world&#x27;s most powerful drug trafficking and organized crime group. </p><p>Cartel founder Joaquin Guzman, more popularly known as El Chapo, was <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/13/19/mexican-drug-lord-el-chapo-found-guilty-in-us-drug-trial">convicted </a>on Tuesday in New York for drug trafficking. </p><p>The Sinaloa drug ring is tagged in thousands of murders, kidnappings and decapitations. </p><p>Violence began to surge in 2006 as the government launched a war on drug trafficking that sent killings spiraling. Mexico has registered more than 250,000 homicides since then, including a record number of killings last year.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/29/17/anxiety-evasion-and-addiction-how-mexicans-deal-with-endless-violence">Anxiety, evasion and addiction: How Mexicans deal with endless violence</a></li></ul><p>The Sinaloa Cartel also smuggled hundreds of tons of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and crystal meth across Mexico&#x27;s border with the United States. </p><p>The crime ring is now headed by Guzman&#x27;s co-founder, Ismael &quot;El Mayo&quot; Zambada. -- With a report from Reuters <br/> </p>

<p>The Sinaloa cartel, a multi-billion dollar Mexican drug empire, has teamed up with Chinese syndicates to smuggle narcotics into the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Wednesday. </p>

The Sinaloa cartel, a multi-billion dollar Mexican drug empire, has teamed up with Chinese syndicates to smuggle narcotics into the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Wednesday.