CIDG summons 21 over Laos drug shipment probe

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) has summoned at least 21 people in connection with the foiled shipment of 521 kilos of suspected shabu worth P3.5 billion from Laos to the Philippines.

Col. Allen Rae Co, PNP spokesman, said subpoenas were issued to the personalities for them to give their side on the drug shipment. He added that a majority of those summoned have already appeared before the CIDG.

“We would like to call on the others, if you were issued a subpoena, please cooperate and appear at the CIDG for you to be able to exercise your right to be heard,” he said yesterday at a news briefing in Camp Crame.

Co said more people could be called, depending on the statements of those who have been summoned. He refused to discuss the profiles of the personalities, but said some of them have been identified as persons of interest (POIs) by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

“Some, could be all,” Co said.

At a news conference at Malacañang on Friday, Remulla identified former Bangsamoro Parliament member Edrieza Hadji Nasser Rimbang as the alleged financier of the drug smuggling operation.

The other POIs are Fahad Mulok Dibarosan, Rioklyn Pizarras Toledo, Police Master Sgt. Aileen Jayne Manalo Mendoza, Abdullah Rimbang Macarimbang, Aldren Nadal Samante, Rudy Isidro, Abdulkarim Macalatas, Christian Fabrigas, Rohaniah Rimbang and Hilario de Vera.

Co said Dibarosan was arrested by Laotian authorities when the drug shipment was intercepted on Oct. 1 at the Luang Prabang International Airport.

Co refused to confirm if Rimbang was among those who already gave sworn statements to the CIDG.

Not on watchlist

Remulla said Rimbang was not in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s narco list, despite evidence showing that he is involved in the illegal drug trade.

“Never on the list, but we suspect that he has been a financier all this time. It’s where the funding comes from, as shown in their sophisticated operations,” Remulla said in an ANC interview.

Duterte’s narco watchlist contained the names of politicians, government officials, judges and other personalities.

During his presidency, Duterte publicly named the people on his drug list.

Remulla tagged Rimbang as the one who chartered a private plane that would have brought the drug shipment to the Philippines.

At a media briefing, Remulla and other security officials presented photographs of Rimbang with Duterte and the former president’s assistant, Sen. Bong Go, and a picture of Rimbang attending a zoom meeting presided over by Vice President Sara Duterte.

“They have pictures with their raised fists together. He was a candidate under the Duterte group in the last elections,” Remulla said.

Remulla dared critics to question their investigation of Rimbang and his cohorts’ involvement in the drug shipment.

“I dare you to challenge me on the facts of this case. If we are proven wrong in this buildup, I will resign tomorrow. We are that confident that we are doing the right thing in this investigation,” he said.

Toledo is under investigation for his air ambulance service, transporting corpses in coffins from countries like Thailand and Malaysia.

The DILG chief said they have reason to believe that Toledo was using coffins to smuggle large quantities of illegal drugs into the country.

As to why Toledo changed his modus operandi, Remulla said they could be experimenting with a way or new route in drug smuggling.

Remulla said Toledo, who is still in the country, was arrested in a drug bust in Taguig in 2012 and was also involved in a pyramid scam.

‘No link to Sandro’

He also belied rumors that came up on social media that Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos is connected with the drug shipment.

Remulla said Marcos is not involved with Rimbang and other persons of interest in the case.

“There is no connection between Rimbang and the President’s son,” he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the House of Representatives’ dangerous drugs committee disclosed yesterday that a transnational drug syndicate was behind the aborted drug shipment from Laos, based on information provided by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“Authorities must look beyond intercepted shipments, follow the money and work with foreign law enforcement to identify and dismantle the syndicates behind the drug trade,” Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos said.

Santos said PDEA officials informed him that Sam Gor, a major transnational drug-trafficking and organized crime network operating across the Asia-Pacific region, was reportedly linked to the smuggling attempt.

Santos said the PDEA also linked Sam Gor to the recovery of large quantities of floating shabu in Philippine waters off Zambales, Pangasinan and the Ilocos region in the middle of last year. The recovered illegal drugs were valued at approximately P7 billion.

PDEA director general Isagani Nerez said “based on the packaging of shabu packs recovered in Philippine shores, they were contained in tea bags with Chinese markings – a signature trademark associated with Sam Gor.”

Nerez identified Sam Gor as an alliance involving five triad groups: 14K, Bamboo Union, Big Circle Gang, Sun Yee On and Wo Shing Wo, whose leaders are believed to be based in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Sam Gor has been described as a major transnational criminal network involved in the Asia-Pacific methamphetamine trade. It has also been linked to trafficking of other illegal drugs and precursor chemicals.

The network has reportedly operated through partners and criminal groups in several countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Authorities and international reports have also linked the network to large-scale methamphetamine production in the Golden Triangle, particularly in Myanmar’s Shan State, a major source of synthetic drugs in the region.

According to the PDEA, the name Sam Gor is associated with the nickname of its suspected leader, Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-Canadian national arrested in the Netherlands in 2021 and extradited to Australia in December 2022 to face drug-trafficking charges. — Delon Porcalla