Marcos on largest shabu bust ever: No bullet fired, not one person dead

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has stressed that launching the drug war without resorting to violent means is possible, with the largest-ever drug bust being conducted without anyone being killed or shot.

In a short briefing on Wednesday, after inspecting the shabu confiscated in Alitagtag town of Batangas province, Marcos said that the estimated weight of the contraband was 1.8 tons, making it the biggest-ever drug seizure in the country’s history.

READ: Marcos notes ‘abuses’ in Duterte drug war 

“Ang estimate baka umabot ito ng 1.8 tons, so ang ibig sabihin, ito na ‘yong pinaka-malaking huli na nagawa natin. But hindi lang ito, meron na tayo as of today, ang huli natin is already 13.2 something […] tons, so patuloy talaga, marami talaga tayong nahuhuli,” Marcos said.

(The estimates show that it might reach 1.8 tons, so this means it is the largest seizure that we have done. But it’s not just this, as of now we have around 13.2 tons of shabu confiscated, so we really are apprehending a lot of anti-drug personalities.)

“I would like also to point out that this is the biggest shipment of shabu na nahuli natin, but not one person died, walang namatay, walang nagputukan, walang nasaktan, basta’t in-operate natin nang dahan-dahan,” he added.

(I would like also to point out that this is the biggest shipment of shabu which we apprehended, but not one person died, no one died, no exchange of fire happened, nobody was hurt, but we operated it slowly, surely.)

Marcos said he believes this should be the approach in the drug war — focused on eradicating the entry of illegal drugs into the country.

READ: Bongbong Marcos to take ‘slightly different’ approach in fight against drugs 

“‘Yon naman dapat ang approach — para sa akin — ‘yon dapat ang approach sa drug war, na ang pinaka-importante is matigil natin ang pag-ship ng mga drugs pagpasok sa Pilipinas,” the Chief Executive said.

(That’s the right approach — for me —  that should be the approach to the drug war, the most important thing is for us to stop the shipment of drugs into the Philippines.)

“This is the approach that we are taking to the drug war. Ang ating ginagawa, we take apart, binabaklas natin ‘yong mga sindikato kahit sino man ang nakita natin may kasabwat dito sa drug trade kahit sino man, kahit politiko man, powerful politician or police, kung sino man, eh talagang iniimbestigahan natin,” he added.

(This is the approach that we are taking to the drug war. What we are doing is to take apart the syndicates whoever they may be, whoever we see involved in the drug trade, even politicians who are powerful, police, whoever they may be, we really investigate them.)

Initial reports from the police said that around two tons of shabu or crystal meth were found loaded into a passenger van which was flagged down during a checkpoint at Barangay Pinagkurusan on Monday.

Investigators said the Parañaque City-bound vehicle came from Sta. Teresita town in Batangas. It was moving towards Lipa City when authorities asked its driver to pull over.

READ: P13-B ‘shabu’ seized by cops in Batangas checkpoint 

Marcos, in the past, has maintained that the government will take a different view of the drug war. In September 2022, Marcos said during his first official visit to the United States that they were taking a “slightly different” approach to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.

It was Duterte who launched the drug war in 2016 when he was elected into office, but it has been criticized by human rights observers in the Philippines and abroad as being too bloody.

Then, in May 2023, Marcos said there were several abuses done by law enforcers when Duterte was at the helm.