PDEA: Shabu in drug raids linked to smuggled shipment
Illegal drugs seized from recent buy-bust operations in Metro Manila and Maguindanao matched the shabu samples intercepted at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) last August, a top official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) bared on Saturday.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said that based on laboratory test results, samples from recently recovered sachets of shabu in Quezon City, Manila, Muntinlupa, and in Maguindanao turned out to be similar to the seized R3.4 billion worth of shabu at the MICP.
“These illegal drugs that we seized, we matched it, we compared it to the illegal drugs we seized in the MICP. And it turned out that they are similar and strongly correlated. In short, they only have one source,” Aquino said.
According to PDEA, the shabu samples were subjected to “impurity drug profiling,” an analytical technique that helps establish links between samples of confiscated drug evidence.
Last August 7, combined operatives of PDEA, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted 154 pieces of foilwrapped sealed plastic packs containing more than 300 kilos of shabu concealed inside two magnetic lifters at the MICP - North Harbor, Manila.
Two days after, four more magnetic lifters were discovered abandoned by the anti-narcotic agents in a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez (GMA), Cavite, but upon inspection, the metal containers were found empty.
Despite yielding negative results from swab testing, PDEA’s K-9 unit indicated the presence of traces of the illegal substance inside the lifters.
“PDEA maintains that the four magnetic lifters found in Cavite contained shabu and stands by its K9 capability. PDEA is also convinced that the magnetic lifters found in MICP and Cavite bore close resemblance and are connected to one another,” Aquino stated.
With the recent link established by the agency, Aquino maintained that the contents of the magnetic lifters have already found their way in the streets, and that the kilos of illegal drugs they recently recovered were part of the missing shabu shipment.