Majority of Filipinos likely rejoiced over the news that authorities seized last week around 500 kilograms of shabu, with an estimated street value of P4.3 billion.

It was the product of a joint effort of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

The huge amount of shabu was ingeniously concealed in four magnetic scrap lifters but the ploy to smuggle the drug was foiled because of a tip the authorities received prior to the shipment, enabling the anti-drug operatives to track the shipment.

The bad news was that an even bigger amount of shabu slipped past through the authorities.

On Friday, the PDEA found four more similar magnetic lifters inside a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite and trained dogs sniffed traces of illegal drugs in the already empty lifters.

According to PDEA director general Aaron Aquino, an estimated P6.8 billion worth of shabu can be packed inside the lifters and could now be on the way to major drug distributors in the country.

Aquino expressed frustration over the seeming Sisyphean ordeal of PDEA and the PNP.

“Sisyphean” pertains to the story in Greek mythology about King Sisyphus of Corinth who was punished in Hades by having to repeatedly roll a huge stone up a hill only to see it roll down again as soon it reached the top.

“We used to seize drugs by grams, but the drugs kept coming into the country by tons. If this goes on, all our efforts in the PDEA and PNP are useless,” Aquino lamented.

The PDEA chief believes the incident indicates there are still corrupt BoC people helping international crime ring smuggle illegal drugs in to the country.

The two shabu-smuggling incidents bear disturbing similarities to the seizure of a P6.4 billion worth of shabu last year in Valenzuela City.

The methods of smuggling were practically the same; the shabu seized in Valenzuela were concealed inside metal cylinders.

There was a previous tip about the shipment that allowed authorities to track the whereabouts of the smuggled drugs. Likewise, the authorities found identical empty metal cylinders in Sampaloc, Manila that could contain as much as 120 kilos each of shabu.

As a consequence of the brouhaha generated by the shabu smuggling, the BoC underwent a major revamp.

Now, the BoC has some explaining to do again after the discovery of the empty magnetic lifters with traces of shabu.

How did the items manage to pass BoC without arousing suspicions when there was a previous tip about an impending huge shipment of illegal drugs, which were found in similar magnetic lifters?

Likewise, who gave the greenlight to allow the shipment out?

With such a huge value of contraband at stake it is logical to assume that whoever is behind the shipment would take pains to ensure it would not end up being confiscated by authorities.

The obvious ploy would be to get someone in BoC to make sure the illegal shipment would get official imprimatur to enter the country.

And based on the previous catch, the possibility emerges that the drug syndicates are actually leaking information on a huge shipment as a red herring to draw away attention from an even bigger bulk of contraband.

Come to think of it, the drug syndicates can afford to lose P4.3 billion if they can successfully smuggle P6.8 billion worth of shabu. They can make an even bigger profit by raising their selling price on the ground that it is getting more difficult to bring the illegal drugs into the country.

An in-depth investigation is in order to pinpoint the protectors of international drug syndicates who are lurking in the BoC and possibly in other concerned agencies.

Unless corrupt officials and government personnel who are abetting the influx of illegal drugs here in the country are exposed and punished, President Duterte’s relentless campaign against illegal drugs would turn into shambles.