DOJ urged to probe drug smuggling at Manila port

MANILA, Philippines — House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan on Tuesday called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dig deeper into the smuggling of “shabu” (crystal meth) through the Manila port and go after its masterminds.

He cited last month’s interception at the Port of Manila of P2.7 billion worth of drugs in a shipment from Pakistan.

READ: Balikbayan boxes at Manila port yield P39.6-M marijuana

The “continued” smuggling of shabu through the port indicated that key persons behind the operations remain at large, Libanan noted, adding that they “must be identified, exposed, apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

In October 2023, a shipment from Mexico containing around 323 kilos of shabu worth some P2.19 billion was also intercepted at the Manila International Container Port, while in May 2024, a balikbayan box from Thailand at the same port yielded P56.3 million worth of shabu.—Jeannette I. Andrade