PDEA vows to freeze bank accounts of more drug syndicates

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) vowed to freeze the bank accounts of more drug syndicates to intensify the government’s crackdown against narcotics.

“Pinupuntahan natin ngayon kung saan ang balon na pinaglalagyan ng pera nila, [drug syndicates] at marami pa kaming ifi-freeze [na bank accounts], in the pipelines, ng mga nahuhuli naming sindikato,” PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva said in a press conference at Valenzuela City, where they conducted destruction of chemical laboratory equipment.

(We are looking at their source of money and we will see to it that more bank accounts of drug syndicates will be frozen.)

“Hindi lang users at pushers ang binibigyan ng proper intervention but [also] yung may-ari mismo ng pera,” the head of PDEA further said.

(We are not only putting proper legal intervention against users and pushers, but also those who owned the money.)

Villanueva also explained that their operations on freezing bank accounts of drug syndicates were intensified because of a memorandum of agreement the agency signed with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in 2019.

The deal ensures coordination with AMLC in detecting and probing money laundering activities and other AMLC violations among drug traffickers.

EDV