More sacks of shabu found in Pangasinan

MANILA, Philippines — The amount of shabu recovered in the waters off Pangasinan has increased to P3.99 billion from P1.17 billion previously after 21 more sacks containing the illegal substance were found along the coast of Bolinao on Friday.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the latest find brought to 28 the total number of sacks retrieved by fishermen from three coastal areas of Pangasinan.

The 21 sacks reportedly contained shabu with an estimated street value of P2.82 billion.

On Thursday, fishermen found seven sacks along the coasts of Agno, Bani and Bolinao.

The sacks, five of them were found in Bolinao, contained 183 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P1.17 billion, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The successive recovery of large quantities of illegal drugs have prompted the PCG, PDEA and the police to intensify patrol along the country’s maritime areas, according to Mark Larsen Mariano, chief of the PCG-District Northwestern Luzon.

Mariano said that heightened coastal security patrols and community engagement initiatives are ongoing to encourage the fisherfolk to identify and report suspicious activities in their areas.

“Residents and fishermen have been reminded that possession or tampering with of suspicious packages can result in the filing of criminal charges against them. Discovery of such items must be reported immediately to the nearest PCG unit,” Mariano said.

The illegal drugs were turned over to the PDEA for laboratory analysis.

Col. Ricardo David, officer-in-charge of the Pangasinan police said follow-up investigation is being conducted to determine the source of the contraband.

PDEA chief Isagani Nerez lauded the fishermen for immediately surrendering the illegal drugs.

The PDEA has tagged the Chinese-run Golden Triangle syndicate as the possible source of sacks of shabu dumped into the country’s waters.

“Based on the packaging, our foreign counterparts said the items could have been sourced from the Golden Triangle area,” PDEA spokesman Joseph Frederick Calulut said in a message to The STAR.

Calulut said the 222.65 kilos of shabu earlier found in the waters off Masinloc, Zambales are connected to the illegal drugs recovered in Pangasinan. — Emmanuel Tupas, Artemio Dumlao