Laos shipments watched after P1.36 billion shabu haul

MANILA, Philippines — The government will flag all shipments from Laos for closer inspection following the seizure of 200 kilos of suspected shabu believed to have been shipped through Hong Kong to Manila, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said yesterday.

Remulla said the drug shipment, intercepted on Wednesday, was concealed inside cardboard packaging, prompting authorities to tighten monitoring of cargoes originating from Laos.

“We will flag all shipments from Laos to check if these contain illegal drugs because smugglers conceal the contraband inside the packages,” Remulla told reporters at Camp Crame.

Remulla clarified that the latest seizure was separate from the Oct. 1 drug shipment intercepted by Laos authorities, which he said was not related to Wednesday’s operation.

He said drug rings appeared to be changing their routes after authorities intercepted about 17 tons of illegal drugs at sea, forcing traffickers to explore other ways of bringing their shipments into the country.

Remulla cited the increase in the price of illegal drugs, from around P3,800 per gram in 2019 to P6,800 currently, as an indication that the supply had been reduced.

He wondered why large drug shipments had allegedly passed through Manila ports undetected in previous years.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has launched an investigation following the interception of P1.36 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride in Manila and the P3.5-billion shabu haul in Laos.

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered the Drug Enforcement Group to track down the network behind the drug shipments and determine if a single transnational cartel was responsible for the multibillion-peso smuggling attempts.

Intelligence tracking showed the shipment originated from Laos, making transshipment stops in Haiphong, Vietnam and Hong Kong before arriving in Manila.

Authorities are profiling the local consignee and corporate entities tied to the shipment.

On Oct. 1, Lao authorities intercepted at the Luang Prabang International Airport 521 kilos of shabu valued at P3.54 billion on a private aircraft reportedly bound for Manila.

According to Nartatez, the PNP is intensifying real-time intelligence exchange with foreign law enforcement counterparts, including the ASEAN Narcotics Desk and Interpol, to monitor maritime and aerial trade routes used by Asian drug rings.

“We are investigating these major drug hauls to determine whether they point to a common drug trafficking network operating across borders,” he said.

Police arrested three suspects and seized more than P10.9 million worth of illegal drugs in separate anti-narcotics operations in Parañaque and Cebu City on Nov. 4. –  Rainier Allan Ronda