Maritime Group inspects waters off Ilocos Norte after seizure of floating packs of shabu

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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) Maritime Group has started inspecting the waters of San Juan Bay and Caoayan in Ilocos Sur after 42 packs of crystal meth, locally known as shabu, were found in the areas.

In a phone patch interview on Wednesday, Maritime Group director Brig. Gen Jonathan Cabal said this is the first time that multi-million worth of narcotics were found in both areas.

READ: 42 packs of suspected shabu found floating off Ilocos Sur

“My regional maritime unit commander reported to me that they have started scouring the waters in both areas. We also have coastal barangay information networks helping us so we will relay information if there will find more,” Cabal told reporters.

He said that there are already existing maritime law enforcement teams in the Ilocos Region tasked to monitor incidents such as human trafficking, illegal fishing, and illegal drug-related occurrences.

Police reports revealed that the first 24 packs were found off San Juan Bay on Monday, while the 18 were discovered off Caoayan earlier Wednesday.

The latter set of shabu packs bore “Chinese characters.” Asked about this, Cabal said it is unlikely that the narcotics were intentionally dropped in the said areas.

He revealed, however, that the nearest international sea lane serves as the passage for cargo ships coming from various foreign countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong—a special administrative region of China.

According to Cabal, the Maritime Group is trying to coordinate with other agencies, such as the Maritime Industry Authority, to inspect sea vessels as they study what other intervention authorities implement to prevent similar events in the future. —with a report from Felice Nafarrete, INQUIRER.net intern