Floating cocaine
Is this the new method of getting illegal drugs in and out of the country? Several well-wrapped packets of cocaine were discovered in the waters or washed up on the beaches of Dinagat and Siargao, Surigao Del Sur, Camarines Norte, and Quezon. The latest discovery was in Caraga, Davao Oriental. The total cocaine haul amounted to around two hundred million pesos. Chump change compared to billions in shabu that has entered the country.
PDEA is entertaining several theories. One is that drug syndicates dump the cocaine into the ocean to be picked up and transported to Hong Kong, Taiwan, or China, making the country a transshipment point, a method once being employed in the Americas. With the availability of GPS, the location of the drugs can be pinpointed. Once the drugs have been recovered, they can be brought anywhere in the country, knowing the Coast Guard lacks the ability to watch over the country’s vast coastlines. And if the threat of being caught arises, they simply dump it back into the ocean and escape.
Another theory is that the drugs have been floating in the ocean for some time. The nets that some of the packets are in already have shells and barnacles growing on them. Perhaps they could not be located before being discovered by authorities or local fishermen. Upon testing of the cocaine, it was ascertained that it was most likely manufactured in Colombia, because of the presence of certain components that would point to the manufacturing style of that country. How it ended up in our waters is still a mystery. PDEA also thinks the cocaine is just a diversionary tactic, to keep attention away from other locations where shabu might be brought in, knowing how thinly spread out the agency already is. But PDEA should already know where to look, how it is being brought in, and who might be helping them, right?
But from all these theories, the question is: Are these drugs coming in or going out of the country? Are drug syndicates already producing large amounts of cocaine, to be supplied to other countries? Is the Philippines now a major source or manufacturer of cocaine in Asia? This is where authorities should put all their efforts into. Finding the location of these drug laboratories so they can be stopped or destroyed, and not just the killing of poor users, where some of those deaths are even questionable.
The government cannot really proclaim victory against illegal drugs if the source or supply continues. Poor users may be caught or killed, but if a more stylized drug like cocaine continues to be available in the market, those who can afford it will just go underground.
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