The Philippine National Police (PNP) will step up its cooperation with other countries in the campaign against illegal drugs following the discovery of at least 20 bricks of cocaine that were fished out off the waters of Arteche town in Eastern Samar last week.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the move is also aimed at both preventing the entry of illegal drugs into the Philippines and putting a stop on the practice of turning the country into a transshipment point for illegal drugs trade.
“Prior to this discovery, the PNP, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy have been constantly working together to patrol our waters,” said Fajardo.
“We need to intensify our international cooperation so that before the entry of these illegal drugs into the country, we would have interdiction on the high seas,” she added.
On March 9, a local fisherman discovered a big bag that was floating off the waters of Arteche town. When he opened it, he saw 20 bricks of cocaine that prompted him to seek the assistance of the police.
Based on the initial probe, the bricks indeed contain around P118 million worth of cocaine.
What went before
In February 2019, more than 200 bricks of cocaine were fished out by the police and other law enforcement agencies off the waters of of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Island, Davao Oriental, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Aurora.
Then PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said the confiscated cocaine were supposed to be headed to Australia through illegal drugs syndicates in South America.
During the coordination with Australia, the latter reported that the same type of packaging containing cocaine were seized off the waters of Papua New Guinea around September in 2018.
PNP officials said part of the modus is to drop tons of cocaine in high seas, all of them would be picked by small boats as each bags containing the illegal drugs has a tracker.
They said the small boat that picked the cocaine up in high seas may have met sea tragedy which resulted in the bricks of cocaine being scattered.
Not for local consumption
Fajardo echoed the statement of officials before that the cocaine business is not popular in the Philippines since most of the users in the country are hooked to either shabu or marijuana.
“This (cocaine) is not really intended for local distribution because cocaine has a small market in the Philippines. The number one abused drugs in the Philippines is shabu,” said Fajardo.
PNP officials before said cocaine is too expensive for Filipino users.
In 2019, the price of one gram of cocaine is P10,000.
On guard
But Fajardo said they are on close watch against international syndicates, especially those engaged in the cocaine business.
“There is a possibility. We are not precluding the possibility that international drug syndicates have already entered the country,” said Fajardo.
“Illegal drugs smuggling, trafficking entails an elaborate funding from a drug syndicate so there is a possibility really that foreign drug traffickers have infiltrated the Philippine market,” she added.