Probes set on shabu fiasco

Amid the apparent buckpassing among agencies involved in President Duterte’s war on drugs over the P6.8 billion worth of smuggled shabu, the House of Representatives called for an investigation on the incident.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a parallel probe in connection with the recent discovery of four magnetic lifters used in the shabu smuggling.

Guevarra said he directed NBI Director Dante Gierran to form a team of agents to investigate and determine how the contraband reportedly contained in the seized magnetic lifters in Cavite was smuggled successfully.

Marikina Rep. Romero “Miro” Quimbo filed Resolution 2068 that will probe the illegal drugs smuggling incident discovered by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday.

Two lifters filled with 500 kilograms of shabu were seized at the Manila International Container Port terminal while four similar magnetic contraptions were found in a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite afterwards. These were found empty but PDEA canines sniffed traces of drugs on them.

“It is simply shocking. I find this completely unacceptable that incidents like these continue to happen despite supposed reforms which the Bureau of Customs (BoC) undertook in the aftermath of last year’s similar P6.4 billion shabu smuggling case, as well as the gargantuan intelligence budgets provided by Congress to both the BoC and PDEA,” Quimbo said in a statement.

“I have directed the NBI to investigate the latest incidents of drug smuggling, considering the huge value of the illegal drugs involved and the relative ease by which they were transported to Philippine territory,” Guevarra said.