Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the Office of the Chief PNP
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday revealed that illegal drug traders use cryptocurrency to “hide their proceeds.”
In a Palace press briefing, Remulla said the illegal drugs seized from traders have been increasing but these are in small quantities, “mostly one to two kilograms.”
“Obviously, there’s something wrong if that’s all that’s being caught. So, the drug trade is more sophisticated now. They use more sophisticated methods in distribution; they use cryptocurrency to hide their proceeds, so it’s a different war altogether,” he added.
READ: Gov’t to shift focus to supply side in new drug war strategy – Remulla
Remulla also said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and leaders of law enforcement agencies would try a “new strategy” in combating illegal drugs, which would focus on the supply chain.
“For the longest time, we have been concentrating on the consumption side; arresting them on street levels, arresting them on crimes they committed on the buy-bust,” he said.
“This time we are going heavy on the supply side, chasing after the big guns, the big suppliers, the main men involved in the importation of drugs. The personalities have been identified; I am not at liberty to discuss it. I can’t reveal it. But the meeting was about going after the supply side of the drug war,” he added.