Cops launch manhunt for heroin smugglers

MANILA, Philippines – Police are hunting down a number of Filipinos and foreigners reportedly behind the smuggling of heroin into the Philippines, which they use as a transshipment point.

Senior Superintendent Robert Po, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR), said the syndicate involved in the smuggling of heroin was well-organized and can place the illegal drugs in tubes for swallowing by drug couriers or “mules.”

“Though we have caught only two, they have been operating for a long time in the Philippines. In fact, there are 200 Filipino mules in jails abroad,” Po told The STAR.

Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano, who is the head of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, said the CIDG is conducting a deeper probe after they picked up Jayson Ordinario, who claimed to have been forced to swallow 34 tubes of heroin. The man was supposed to excrete the tubes when he gets to Macau.

Police located Ordinario upon the request of his parents, who claimed their son was abducted.

Soriano said they have arrested Jhun Enummeng and Elpidio Gonzales for allegedly being part of a drug gang that smuggles heroin into China, Malaysia and other parts of the world using human couriers who are made to carry the chemicals in their stomachs.

At the CIDG office, Soriano said Ordinario excreted the tubes and laboratory tests confirmed the 11-gram (0.39-ounce) tubes contained high-grade heroin.

 “The CIDG unearthed a sophisticated mode of operation in transporting illegal drugs, by making their couriers swallow the illegal drugs and just let it out when they get to their destination,” Soriano added.