14 kilos of cocaine surrendered by Samar fishermen

MANILA, Philippines – Two fishermen surrendered Sunday at least 14 kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of P70 million in Eastern Samar Sunday, police said yesterday.

Fishermen Antonio Labay and Eustaquio Daguinod, residents of Salcedo town surrendered eight and six bricks of cocaine, respectively, to operatives of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), Eastern Samar police office and K-9 unit of the Philippine Coast Guard.

The voluntary surrender came after Police Deputy Director General Edgardo Acuña, AIDSOTF commander ordered the launching of Case Operation Plan (COPLAN) Samar Bricks and Implementation Plan (Implan) “COKE” (cocaine) aimed to intensify the recovery operation of the remaining cocaine that was jettisoned by a cargo vessel F/V King Yue sometime in December 2009 at the high seas near Samar Island.

Acuña sent three teams each from AIDSOTF and K-9 unit of the PCG to Eastern Samar and Northern Samar to conduct a massive information dissemination campaign to encourage the residents, who are still in possession of bricks of cocaine to surrender them.

So far, a total of 56.5 kilograms of cocaine with a Dangerous Drugs Board estimated street value of P285.5 million were surrendered to the PNP-AIDSOTF since the execution of Implan Coke last July 8.

Acuña commended the two fishermen for surrendering the dangerous drugs and at the same time directed his men to coordinate with DDB for the release of the sack of rice for the duo.

Meanwhile, the surrendered bricks of cocaine were turned-over by the operatives to the crime laboratory of the Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) for analysis and custody.