Palace alarmed over ‘new modus’ in drug trade

“This is alarming because they have new modus now,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing. (TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL FILE PHOTO)

MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday expressed alarm over the discovery of the multibillion-peso “shabu” shipment last week.

“Nakaalarma po dahil meron silang (drug syndicates) bagong modus na ginagawa ngayon. (This is alarming because they have new modus now),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing.

He urged the authorities to be more vigilant to prevent the entry of illegal drugs into the country.

“So sa atin po, kinakailangan na laging alisto dahil meron talagang bagong pamamaraan na gagamitin para makapasok ang droga (So we need to always be alert because there are doing new ways to bring illegal drugs into the country,” Roque said.

Roque said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a thorough investigation on the smuggled shabu in the country.

“The Executive Secretary has ordered the NBI to conduct a thorough investigation on this matter. This was personally relayed to me by the ES yesterday (Monday) afternoon,” he said.

Roque said he has yet to know how President Rodrigo Duterte reacted on the discovery of four magnetic lifters reportedly containing one-ton of approximately worth Php6.8 billion in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite last week.

“Well hindi ko po alam kung nagalit siya, dahil quite frankly I did not see the President yesterday; I will see him today. Pero my understanding is of course, this is a reason for alarm dahil malaki po iyong nahuli (I still don’t know if he is angry because quite frankly I did not see the President yesterday. I will see him today. But my understanding is of course, this is a cause for alarm because this is a big catch),” Roque said.

Last week, agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have also intercepted Php4.3 billion 500 kilograms of shabu also hidden inside two magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in Manila.

The shabu shipment in Cavite reportedly originated from the same port that the joint BOC and PDEA agents seized the contraband containing Php4.3 billion worth of shabu.

According to initial investigation of the Customs bureau, the consignee of the four magnetic lifters discovered in Cavite has been identified as SMYD Trading with office address in Manila.

In 2016, government agents seized Php6.4 billion of shabu in a warehouse in Valenzeula City three days after the contraband reportedly left the MICP.

Roque said the government will continue to strengthen its war against illegal drugs launched by the Chief Executive right after he assumed presidency in July 2016.

“So kami po nagagalak kami na nahuli itong napakalaking shipment na ito, at titingnan po natin kung paano nga maiiwasan itong mga pangyayaring (We are happy that this big shipment was seized and we will look into how these incidents will be prevented),” Roque said.