‘Pressured’ drug smugglers becoming bolder, but war will be relentless – Palace

Malacañang said that international drug smugglers are now probably feeling the pressure from the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs for them to take bold steps in order to get the contraband inside the country.

But Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque warned that the government will spare no one in the relentless war on illegal drugs after the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted businessman Peter Lim on charges of alleged conspiracy to commit illegal

drug trade.

He said the charges against Lim “shows (the) government’s seriousness and firm resolve in fighting the illicit drug trade.”

“Big fish or small, our war against drugs spares no one. It is a war that drug smugglers and traffickers are bound to lose,” Roque said.

Earlier reports revealed that 16.8 billion worth of illegal drugs was able to slip past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last week.

The discovery was made a day after the BOC was able to intercept a 14.3-billion shabu shipment at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

Roque said that President Duterte’s war against drugs is effective due to the low supply of the substance in the country which prompted international drug manufacturers to fill in the supply.

“We view the latest reported foreign drug shipment as a sign that big-timer drug manufacturers and smugglers are becoming bolder with a dwindled local supply as they feel the pressure from the government’s campaign against illegal drugs,” he said.

The Palace official, however, assured that the government is coordinating with its counterparts abroad to get to the bottom of the shipment.

“Our authorities are now working with their foreign counterparts to help with the probe,” Roque said.

According to Customs Chief Isidro Lapeña, a timely intelligence report could have prevented the release of four magnetic lifters that contained the illegal drugs which ended up in Cavite.

It was reported that the four empty magnetic lifters arrived from Taiwan to the MICP on July 11, 2018. It was cleared and released three days later.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) earlier said that it is possible that some Customs officials were involved in making the shipment slip past the Bureau.

Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) commissioner Manuelito Luna said that they will conduct a parallel inquiry into the reported collusion of some corrupt customs officials with notorious smugglers which led to the entry of billions worth of illegal drugs into the country.

“PACC finds the facilitated smuggling of over 14 billion and 16.8 billion worth of illegal drugs very disturbing and will not take this sitting down,” he said.

Luna said the PACC will be summoning personalities to shed light on the matter and will not hesitate to recommend to the President the firing of public officials found to be remiss in the performance of duties or worse, acted in conspiracy with smugglers in facilitating the entry of the contraband.