Appalled over “shocking” reports that 1 ton of shabu worth P6.8 billion slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) yet again, Marikina Rep. Romero “Miro” Quimbo on Monday filed a resolution seeking an investigation into the “continued inability” of Customs authorities to prevent large-scale smuggling of illegal drugs.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine National Police (PNP), and BOC discovered over the course of the previous week that six magnetic lifters containing smuggled shabu (methamphetamine) were able to enter the country.
Two of the lifters, found to contain 500 kilograms (kg) of shabu, were seized from an unclaimed container at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) last August 7, while the remaining lifters, believed to have contained 1000 kg of shabu, were discovered a day later, however empty, at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.
READ: 1 ton of shabu worth P6.8B eludes PDEA, PNP | P6.8-B ‘shabu’ smuggling: BOC men probed
“It is simply shocking. I find this completely unacceptable that incidents like these continue to happen despite supposed reforms which the Bureau of Customs undertook in the aftermath of last year’s similar P6.4 Bn shabu smuggling case as well as the gargantuan intelligence budgets provided by Congress to both the BOC and PDEA,” Quimbo said in a statement.
The lawmaker lamented that because of “persisting corruption and incompetence,” 1000 kg of shabu was “now likely circulating in our streets.”
“What is even more worrying is that we don’t know how many more shipments like these have slipped through the porous grasp of the BOC,” he added, stressing the need to get to the bottom of the issue.
“Worse is that this could not have happened without the active connivance of BOC personnel. That’s the only thing certain,” he further pointed out.
Quimbo has particularly directed the House committees on dangerous drugs and ways and means to investigate the issue. /kga
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