NBI seizes P15-million cocaine in drug bust

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday its agents arrested a man who introduced himself as an agent of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) and his cohort for allegedly selling three kilos of cocaine with a street value of P15 million at a five-star hotel in Pasig City last week.

During yesterday’s press conference at the NBI headquarters, NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula identified the suspects as Arthur Olarte, 38, the alleged PASG member; and Chinese national Benjamin Liobing, 30, also known as Benjamin BocBoc Yu and Richardson Bondoc Ang.

The two men were charged with selling of and conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs and possession of dangerous drugs before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

At the press conference, Gatdula said Olarte had bragged about his connections, which reportedly included an influential politician.  

NBI Reaction, Arrest and Interdiction Division (RAID) chief Ross Jonathan Galicia said Olarte and Liobing have a female companion in the illicit drug trade, but they could not divulge her name pending investigation.

Galicia said an informant told them that Olarte caters to high-end drug users, among them celebrities, members of the country’s rich families, and law enforcers but he refused to elaborate.

He said the NBI coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Pasig City police for the entrapment, set at the hotel on Nov. 3.

Galicia said the NBI agents arrested Olarte and Liobing when they received marked money for one kilo of cocaine. A search of the suspects’ vehicles yielded two more kilos of cocaine and a digital weighing scale.

Galicia said the cocaine confiscated from Olarte’s group may have come from the 1,500 kilos cocaine dumped by a passing ship in the coastal waters of Samar.