One of the biggest: Floating shabu haul tops P8.8 billion

MANILA – The amount of illegal drugs found floating off several parts of Luzon waters over the past several days has already reached over P8 billion, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday.

PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said at least 66 sacks containing 1.2 tons or 1,297.911 kilograms of shabu, amounting to P8,825,894,800.00, were discovered by fishermen off the waters of Masinloc, Zambales; Santa Cruz, Ilocos Sur; and various coastal areas in Pangasinan.

 Authorities, fishers recover 28 sacks of shabu off Pangasinan coast

The latest discovery was a 25-kilo sack of shabu found on Monday in Magsingal, Ilocos Sur.

“This is one of the biggest na recovery po natin on seas po,” Fajardo said.

(This is one of our biggest recoveries at sea.)

Authorities believe the shipment came from the same source—suspected to be the Chinese-run Golden Triangle syndicate—as all the items had similar packaging.

“Iisa po ito, naanod lang because masama po ‘yong panahon, dahil may similarity po ‘yong packaging although iba-iba po ‘yong appearance ng sako,” Fajardo said.

(These all came from the same shipment; they were just swept away because of bad weather. The packaging is similar, although the sacks have different appearances.)

Fajardo said there is a need to strengthen the PNP Maritime Group’s joint coastal patrols with the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy to fight the illegal drug trade at sea.

“This is not the first time na naka-recover po tayo diyan sa iba’t ibang lugar po diyan sa Pangasinan, sa Ilocos, and even dito po sa Region 3 (Central Luzon),” she added.

(This is not the first time we’ve recovered [drugs] in various parts of Pangasinan, Ilocos, and even here in Region 3 (Central Luzon.)

Over P6-M worth of shabu shipment intercepted in Pasay

At least nine fishermen from Bataan who discovered the shabu in Zambales have already received P100,000 from the local government, while the PNP provided them with sacks of rice as a gesture of appreciation.

Fishermen from Ilocos and Pangasinan will also be given incentives from the government, Fajardo said.