Lawmen to go after other shabu warehouses — PDEA chief

PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva. /RTVM Screenshot

MANILA, Philippines — Law enforcement agencies will go after other warehouses operating as storage for shabu or crystal meth, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Wilkins Villanueva said Thursday.

“Sa ngayon, talagang ang pumapasok sa atin ay droga galing sa Golden Triangle Drug Trafficking organization so talagang iyon ang hinahanap natin, kung nasaan ang iba pang bodega. Kasi nakuha na ng PNP [Philippine National Police], PDEA yung bodega nila sa Marilao, Bulacan. So kung mayroon pang ganyan, definitely, may bodega pa somewhere,” Villanueva told reporters at the sidelines of the destruction of narcotics in Cavite, responding to a question about the P200 million worth of seized shabu of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG).

(Currently, most of our drugs are coming from the Golden Triangle Drug Trafficking organization so that’s what we are looking for, we are searching for their warehouses because the PNP and PDEA already uncovered Marilao, Bulacan drug warehouse so there could be more. Definitely, there are other drug warehouses somewhere.)

Earlier, PDEG revealed that they confiscated shabu worth P200 million from three suspects in separate anti-drug operations at Parañaque and Taguig. PDEG spokesman Police Lieutenant Colonel Enrico Rigor said the narcotics were linked to the Golden Triangle international drug syndicate.

Last June 4, about P5.14 billion worth of meth were confiscated from three suspects, including a Chinese national, at a warehouse in Marilao, Bulacan.

‘African drug syndicates’

Meanwhile, Villanueva said African drug syndicates’ operations rarely happen as their movements were restricted during the pandemic.

African drug syndicates are operating usually at airports, Villanueva added.

“Mga carrier iyan galing sa airport. Iyan modus operandi ng mga African Drug Syndicate. Body carrier or yung mga nasa lugagge sa international airport iyon. Right now, medyo madalang. Madalang operations ng drug syndicates,” he said after a reporter asked him if African drug syndicates are still rampant.

(They are carriers from the airport. That is the Modus operandi of the African Drug Syndicate. They are body carriers or they are using luggage at international airports. Right now, these are rare. The operations of the syndicates are rare.)

EDV