Police recover more shabu packs in Ilocos Sur

MANILA, Philippines — Twenty more packs of suspected shabu, estimated to be worth P136 million, were recovered off the waters of Magsingal town in Ilocos Sur on Thursday.

Two fishermen found the illegal drugs stashed in a black sack floating at sea about 25 nautical miles off Barangay Puro at around 6 a.m. The fishermen had previously turned over 19 packs to the police.

“They were about to clean their boats when they found another pack floating at sea. They also turned it over to the police,” Ilocos Sur police director Col. Darnell Dulnuan said in a phone interview with reporters.

Since Monday, 80 packs of shabu have been recovered in the waters off the province, all of which had Chinese markings.

In Batangas City, around 175 grams of shabu, valued at P1.19 million, were seized in a sting operation in Barangay Alangilan on Thursday.

Operatives nabbed an alias Angelita, a high-value suspect, during the operation, the Calabarzon police said in a report.

The Central Luzon Police also arrested four alleged drug pushers in separate sting operations in Bulacan, Bataan and Nueva Ecija provinces on Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr., Central Luzon police director, said more than P1 million worth of shabu was confiscated from the four suspects.

Meanwhile, in Pampanga, the Bureau of Customs seized about six kilos of marijuana oil worth P390,000 at the Port of Clark. The BOC said in a statement yesterday that the contraband, placed in 12 plastic containers and declared as candles, arrived at the port on June 16. – Emmanuel Tupas, Ric Sapnu, Ed Amoroso, Ghio Ong, Artemio Dumlao

However, when subjected to “rigorous x-ray scanning and K-9 sniffing” the BOC detected “unusual images and possible presence of illegal substance.” Further examination showed that the parcel tested positive for the presence of Cannabinoid as well as Tetrahydrocannabinol or marijuana.