Shabu came floating off Ilocos Sur by the WPS

BAGUIO CITY — A total of 79 packs of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, dubbed as the poor man's cocaine, came floating off the waters of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte provinces since Monday.

Nineteen packs were seen tucked inside a black chute sack, the fourth discovery since Monday. These were discovered by local fishermen floating Thursday morning off the municipal waters of barangay Puro, Magsingal town in Ilocos Sur.

On Wednesday morning, fishermen from barangay Biag-o in Sta. Maria town, also in Ilocos Sur, noticed a similar black chute sack they thought was only a bag of garbage along the waters off barangay Villamar in Caoayan, also in Ilocos Sur.  It turned out that 18 packs of the illegal crystalline substance were tucked inside.

By Wednesday night,  Barangay Puro, Magsingal fishermen discovered 18 more packs of the same Chinese character-marked boxes of shabu.

On Monday, 24 packs were also found by local fishermen off the municipal waters off barangay Solot-Solot in San Juan, also in Ilocos Sur.

Ilocos Sur police, who are investigating where these illegal substances came from, had not summed up how many kilos of shabu were discovered since Monday including its value.

Ilocos region police chief  Brigadier General Lou Evangelista said that they have already coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies including the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to conduct of joint search and retrieval operations, seaborne patrol and search pattern and validation.

He said that they are also in the process of determining links of the shabu discovered floating in different areas in the waters off Ilocos Sur.

Police said that Monday’s haul of 24 packs of weighed 23,919.05 grams while the weight of the other three hauls are still being determined.

This is perhaps the largest haul of shabu discovered off the waters in Nortwestern Luzon off the West Philippines Sea, said to be very porous of smuggling operations including illegal substances like drugs.