Fishermen find P90-M cocaine in waters off Albay

LEGAZPI CITY — At least 18 bricks of cocaine worth P90 million were found by fishermen in waters off Tiwi town in Albay province on Sunday, police said on Monday.

Chief Insp. Arthur Gomez, information officer of the Albay police, said fishermen Manuel Comota and Razel Bragais found the bricks, wrapped in a fishnet, in the waters of Barangay Sugod in Tiwi at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Gome said the bricks were sealed with packaging tape and covered with a rubber bag and plastic. The bag had moss and barnacles, he said.

Each brick has an estimated street value of P5 million.

Gomez said the packs of cocaine found here could be part of those recovered in Samar province in 2009.

“This is possibly part of the 1,599 kilograms of illegal drugs that were thrown into the sea by Chinese [drug suspects] in Samar,” he said. CBB/rga