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Duterte says PDEA report on shabu in magnetic lifters 'speculation'

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Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday branded as “speculation” the report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that a ton of shabu worth P6.8 billion supposedly stuffed inside magnetic lifters slipped past the country’s port.Authorities on August 8 found four empty magnetic lifters with supposed traces of illegal drugs in Cavite. A day before this, a 500 kilogram shabu shipment was seized from an unclaimed container at the Manila International Container Terminal.Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino last Friday suspected that about a ton of shabu from Taiwan worth P6.8 billion could have been placed in the four missing magnetic lifters.The Bureau of Customs, however, said the four magnetic lifters tested negative for traces of shabu.“They opened it, there was none. It was pure speculation,” Duterte said in a speech in Malacañang.“They suspected and they also presumed it was full of shabu. And they just made an assumption of the price. But there was really none and I am not convinced.”The BOC, led by former PDEA chief Isidro Lapeña, and the PDEA, have been trading barbs over the incident.Lapeña said the PDEA did not inform the Bureau of Customs that there were intelligence reports about the supposed bulk shipment of shabu to the country.PDEA Dir. Gen. Aaron Aquino, for his part, said the information his agency received was &quot;raw&quot; and had to be validated before sharing it with other concerned agencies.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/13/18/nbi-ordered-to-probe-p68-billion-drug-slip">NBI ordered to probe P6.8-billion drug slip</a></li></ul>

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday branded as “speculation” the report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that a ton of shabu worth P6.8 billion supposedly stuffed inside magnetic lifters slipped past the country’s port.

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday branded as “speculation” the report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that a ton of shabu worth P6.8 billion supposedly stuffed inside magnetic lifters slipped past the country’s port.

Duterte says PDEA report on shabu in magnetic lifters 'speculation'

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Duterte says PDEA report on shabu in magnetic lifters 'speculation'

Dharel Placido,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 14, 2018 08:51 PM PHT

|

Updated August 15, 2018 04:56 PM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

shabu

war on drugs

PDEA

Customs

Isidro Lapeña

Aaron Aquino

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