‘Golden Triangle’ source of PH drugs
PDEA says narcotics shipments used to come from China
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Aaron Aquino on Friday said that most of the shabu shipped to the Philippines came from the “Golden Triangle’’ region which borders the countries of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, and not from China as earlier claimed by Vice President Leni Robredo.
He added that cocaine being unlawfully brought to the country are mainly from South America, specifically from Columbia and Peru.
The PDEA chief also noted that the supply of ecstasy that has reached the Philippines was traced mainly from its origin in the Netherlands and other European countries.
Both Robredo and Aquino are cochairmen of the government’s Interagency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).
Earlier, Robredo claimed that most of the illegal drugs in the Philippines came from China, if not Chinese citizens.
Even Aquino said in the past that China was the main source of shabu in the country. But is no longer the case anymore, he said.
With this declaration, Robredo has called on concerned government authorities to conduct extensive probes on the foreign suppliers of illegal drugs in the country.
Last Thursday, Robredo conferred with law enforcement of
ficials, representatives from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Philippine National Police officials to discuss relevant issues in her role as ICAD co-chair.
Robredo expressed plans to seek the assistance of intelligence agents from the United States to resolve the illegal drug woes in the country.
For his part, PDEA spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon said the VicePresident might have obtained the information that China remains the main supplier of shabu from her US sources.
He maintained that PDEA is supportive of Robredo in her capacity as ICAD co-chairman.