BIG CATCH. Eastern Samar policemen conduct an inventory of the packs of cocaine found floating by a fisherman in the waters of Arteche town on March 8. EASTERN SAMAR POLICE PROVINCIAL OFFICE PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY — The bundles of cocaine found floating in the waters of Barangay Tangbo in Arteche town of Eastern Samar province on March 8 may have come from a drug cartel operating in Mexico, police here said.
Police investigators said the “ZZZ” markings on the contraband, which were wrapped in plastic bags, were associated with Los Zetas, one of the most notorious drug cartels in Mexico.
Los Zetas is the Spanish equivalent of the letter Z.
Police Brig. Gen. Owen Andarino, deputy director for administration of the Eastern Visayas police, said it was not yet clear how these prohibited substances reached the sea of Arteche.
READ: Bundles of cocaine found anew in waters off Samar Island
READ: Another batch of suspected cocaine washed ashore
Report and turn over
Andarino urged residents of Eastern Samar, especially in the coastal areas, to report and turn over any items they suspected of being illegal drugs.
Samuel Dalimpapas, a fisherman, found the 20 packs of cocaine in the coastal waters of Arteche on March 8 and immediately turned over the items to the municipal government, which, in turn, forwarded the cocaine to the Eastern Samar Police Provincial Office for safekeeping and confirmatory testing. The cocaine weighed 21,195 grams (21.1195 kilos) and was estimated to be worth P111.85 million.
The local police had since coordinated with the Maritime Police and the Philippine Coast Guard to find out if there were cocaine packs still floating in the coastal waters of Eastern Samar.
Andarino believed there could be more packs of cocaine floating in the waters of Samar, which faces the Pacific Ocean, the most common route for foreign ships entering Philippine waters.
“Rest assured, we are doing everything to recover other packs of cocaine because that is what we can do now. We hope to recover everything,” Andarino said.
Reward
Arteche Mayor Roland Boie Evardone was grateful to Dalimpapas for turning over the 20 packs of cocaine to authorities.
“We are proud of him. It just goes to show that he trusts us, the village officials, the local government, the PNP, and the government as a whole,” he said.
As a reward, Andarino turned over P30,000 in cash to the fisherman, while the municipal government of Arteche is awaiting a resolution from the council commending Dalimpapas. The commendation comes with a P50,000 cash reward.
“We are appealing to the people to help us recover this illegal substance. Don’t hesitate to approach me, the barangay captain and the PNP and drug enforcement unit. We will support and protect you. This is not only for us but for our future generations,” Evardone said.
Cocaine bricks were also previously recovered in the coastal waters of Samar, first in 2009 when 1.2 tons of cocaine valued at P800 million were thrown into the waters off Northern and Eastern Samar provinces by a Chinese vessel; and in 2018, when packs of cocaine valued at P4 million were found floating in the waters off Homonhon Island in Guiuan town, Eastern Samar. INQ