FILE PHOTO
LUCENA CITY—The government destroyed P11 billion worth of shabu (crystal meth), which the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said is the biggest drug haul in Philippine history.
In a statement issued Wednesday, June 22, NBI director Eric Distor, reported that the illegal drugs, upon order by the court, were destroyed on June 2 in the Integrated Waste Management Inc. facility in Trece Martires City, Cavite.
Distor said six NBI-Forensic Chemistry personnel, upon invitation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), attended and witnessed the destruction of the seized dangerous drugs.
“The NBI chemist-in-charge conducted the inventory and accounted for 80 sealed black mega boxes which were equated counts of evidence that were turned over to PDEA,” Distor said in the statement posted on the NBI Facebook page.
On March 15, NBI operatives, PDEA agents, and local police intercepted three vans at a checkpoint in Barangay Comon in Infanta town in Quezon province.
The vehicles were loaded with several sacks with 1,600 plastic tea bags containing shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride, as determined in the laboratory examination report.
The 10 passengers, including the vans’ drivers, were arrested and face charges for violating Section 5, Article II of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 before the Regional Trial Court of Infanta.
The NBI described the shabu bust as “unprecedented and historic” considering the volume and amount of the illegal drugs confiscated.
“As of date, this is the biggest drug haul in Philippine history,” the NBI said after the arrest.
The NBI has not yet identified the masterminds behind the shabu smuggling.
The NBI, in a statement on March 24, clarified that the agency “specifically the Task Force Against Illegal Drugs (TFAID) nor any Agent in the Task Force has not insinuated nor implicated the involvement of any local official in the province of Quezon.”
The police have identified northern Quezon, particularly the island towns of Polillo, Burdeos, Panukulan, Jomalig, and Patnanungan, all facing the Pacific Ocean, as critical watchpoints to prevent the entry of smuggled goods, particularly illegal drugs.