Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde could not confirm yet if the reported one ton or P6.8 billion worth of shabu that slipped from authorities in Cavite was really one ton, more so if it is really shabu.
In several instances during the Monday press briefing at Camp Crame, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Albayalde questioned the details of the reports when the issue was discussed.
“Ang nakalabas (shipment) ay ‘yong doon sa Cavite, kung totoo man na may laman na sinasabi na 1,000 kilos of shabu na hindi pa natin ma-assure kung ilan talaga, kung talagang ang laman no’n ay shabu or not,” Albayalde said.
When he was asked if there was any room for improvement to avoid the repetition of what happened in Cavite, Albayalde again emphasized that details are still unconfirmed.
“Kung totoo ‘yon (1,000 kilos of shabu), then we really have to improve on our intelligence monitoring dito,” he added.
On Friday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino said four magnetic lifters which allegedly contained one ton of shabu were recovered in a warehouse at General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.
Aquino added that the four lifters were similar to a different lifter recovered in a previous operation at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
The operation at MICT yielded almost 500 kilograms of shabu, hence the speculation that four magnetic lifters could house more. Also, PDEA claimed that drug-sniffing dogs detected traces of shabu in the containers.
READ: 1 ton of shabu worth P6.8B eludes PDEA, PNP
The PNP chief also recognized the need for a stronger inter-agency cooperation, even if the anti-drug campaigns in MICT and Cavite were properly coordinated.
He also refused to pass the buck on the Bureau of Customs, implying that drug dealers have become creative in trying to ship illegal substances inside the country.
“Alam naman natin na there are several ways of pagpasok ng illegal drugs dito, hindi lang naman sa Customs ‘yan, kahit na kung saan-saan eh, even from our backdoors, mga shores natin,” Albayalde explained.
“Doon sa Camarines Sur nga may 27 kilos na nakuha, only coming from the shores eh. Hindi naman dadaan sa Customs ‘yan,” he added. /vvp