DDB to put agents in seaports, airports

MANILA, Philippines - Newly appointed Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairman Antonio Villar Jr. said anti-narcotics agents, including the International Police (Interpol), would be deployed in the country’s seaports and airports “for an up-close scrutiny of cargoes entering the country.”

The agencies tapped by Villar in the anti-narcotics drive are the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), National Bureau of Investigation-Anti-Narcotics Unit, and Bureau of Immigration’s Interpol.

Villar, also the concurrent chief of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), said, “Providing fangs to anti-narcotics groups in guarding the country’s entry points is urgent due to alarming reports on apprehended high-grade cocaine and shabu in Davao City and Subic Bay.”

Villar was referring to some P15 billion worth of high-grade shabu seized by PASG at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, and P112 million worth of high-grade cocaine discovered by PDEA at the Sasa Warf in Davao City.