A Chinese national killed during a drug-sting operation of PDEA in Zambales. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The cohorts of Chinese nationals who were either arrested or killed during an anti-drug operation in Zambales and Bataan will be pursued by anti-drug operatives, the Philippine National Police (PNP) gave the assurance on Wednesday.
According to PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, he has directed police officers to run after the people who helped the foreign drug traffickers, while assisting the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in gathering information on the group.
On Tuesday, four Chinese nationals were killed and three others were arrested in the largest anti-drug sting for 2021, which was conducted by combined PNP and PDEA forces. Reports showed that the Chinese nationals may be connected to a big-time drug syndicate.
“I commend all the PNP personnel who took part in this biggest drug operation that resulted in the confiscation of the biggest drug haul so far this year. This only shows that despite the pandemic, your Philippine National Police has never lost its focus in the campaign against illegal drugs,” Eleazar said.
“Makakakaasa ang ating taumbayan na hindi namin tatantanan ang mga natitira pang sindikato sa ating bansa hanggat hindi namin tuluyang nalilinis ang iligal na droga sa ating bayan dahil ang pinag-uusapan dito ay ang kinabukasan ng mga kabataan at kapakanan ng sambayanan,” he added.
(Fellow Filipinos can expect that we would remain relentless in pursuing other drug syndicates in the country until we fully rid the country of illegal drugs because in this case, we are talking about the future of the youth and the welfare of the entire nation.)
PNP and PDEA said that the anti-drug sting was launched after a long surveillance and intelligence operation to track down the movements of Xu Youha, believed to be one of the major players of the illegal drug trade in the Philippines.
Youha was the target of a buy-bust operation in Barangay Libertador of Candelaria, Zambales, as undercover law enforcers tried to buy a kilogram of shabu from the suspect.
The Chinese national then tried to escape and exchanged fire with the authorities, but he along with three of his companions were killed in the firefight.
A total of 500 kilograms of shabu were seized from Youha and his group in Zambales, while a separate operation in Bataan yielded 80 more kilograms of shabu.
All in all, the seized illegal drugs’ estimated price was at P3.944 billion.
PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva said that it is believed that the illegal substances were smuggled into the country through international waters, and was later picked by smaller boats that delivered it to the shore.
Eleazar said that this may be an attempt to change strategies in delivering drugs to the country, especially as the government has curtailed usual methods used in the drug trade.
“Sa pagbabago ng mga istratehiya ng mga natitira pang sindikato ng droga dahil sa maigting nating kampanya, we also stepped up our strategies and part of them is the strong coordination of various government agencies that include tapping all the government intelligence resources against them with the PDEA as the lead agency,” he explained.
(With the change in strategy of the remaining drug syndicates due to our vigorous campaign against illegal drugs, we also stepped up our strategies and part of them is the strong coordination of various government agencies that include tapping all the government intelligence resources against them with the PDEA as the lead agency.)
“Ito ang nakita ng ating mga kababayan sa matagumpay na operasyon sa Zambales at Bataan,” he added.
(This is what the public saw in the successful operation done in Zambales at Bataan.)