24 cocaine bars found in van in Davao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the discovery of cocaine bars in a container van at a container yard in Tibungco District here on Saturday indicated that the country must be the new transshipment point of drugs in neighboring countries in Asia.
“From all indications, it seems that the Philippines has become a transshipment point for drugs,” Duterte said, as members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the region were investigating the origin and destination of the shipment.
Duterte said authorities had recovered only 24 of the 65 bars of cocaine at the container yard. He called on the container yard workers to return the items.
“Just surrender them to the authorities, and we will take them with no questions asked, you will not be held liable,” Duterte said during his television program, “Gikan sa Masa, para sa Masa,” on Sunday.
Joel Pernito, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said authorities had been tipped off about the cocaine shipment in a container van at the banana firm Sumifru container yard, and that authorities would conduct follow-up operations in the coming days.
The cocaine bars were taped onto the ceiling of the 12-meter container van, which had been at the container yard for some time. The contraband was discovered by Sumifru workers who inspected the van just as they were about to load it with bananas, Duterte told Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo.
But some 40 cocaine bars were already removed from its taped slots on the ceiling of the container van when the authorities arrived at the Sumifru container yard, Tulfo also said.
A cocaine bar would sell as much as P6 million in the drug market, according to Tulfo.
Later on Sunday, Tulfo said Duterte told him another 23 cocaine bars were turned over by the Sumifru workers. The container van was refrigerated and customized for loading with perishables, like bananas.
Duterte said his administration would cooperate with authorities in other countries in the campaign against illegal drugs.
In 2009, 16 kilograms of cocaine worth about P16 million was discovered in a refrigerated van at the Maersk container yard here. The discovery led to the filing of charges against six employees of Maersk.—Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao, with a report from Fe Zamora in Manila
Originally posted: 6:32 pm | Sunday, March 23rd, 2014
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