MANILA – The Bureau of Customs denied that some P6.8 billion worth of shabu was smuggled into the country as claimed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Test results showed there was no trace of illegal drugs in the four magnetic lifters found in Cavite, Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña told the House of Representatives dangerous drugs committee.
“Chemists conducted swab tests on the metallic containers and aluminum foils found inside a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite, and [the tests] yielded negative results,” Lapeña said.
“So the speculation of illegal drugs flooding the local market has no basis since the empty containers did not contain the one ton of shabu,” he added.
Earlier PDEA director general Aaron Aquino alleged that drug syndicates may have connived with Customs personnel to slip the illegal drugs out of the bureau.
Aside from the magnetic lifters, certain documents, including business and shipment records, bank papers, and closed-circuit television footage were discovered inside the warehouse during their raid on Aug. 9, Aquino said.
Days before the empty magnetic lifters were discovered, the Customs held two large magnetic lifters containing about 500 kilograms of shabu worth P4.3 billion at the Manila International Container Terminal.
The PDEA was investigating a certain “Golden Triangle Syndicate” international drug group for possible hand in the shipment.
The agency was coordinating with counterparts in China, Malaysia and the United States in the investigation./PN
