House to probe cocaine smuggling

The House committee on dangerous drugs will investigate the reported smuggling of cocaine into the country.

The inquiry is based on House Resolution 1674 filed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas after packs of cocaine washed ashore in Luzon in January and earlier this month.

“Who are the individuals or syndicates responsible for dumping cocaine into our shores?” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, committee chairman, said yesterday.

Barbers said the inquiry should determine measures to help anti-drug agencies cope with the skills and innovations being employed by drug smugglers, including the appropriation of funds for the acquisition of modern surveillance and tracking system.

He expressed concern that smugglers dump their contraband in high seas to avoid detection by law enforcers.

A water container with around 18 kilos of cocaine with an estimated value of P79 million was found along the shore in Barangay Dipudo in Divilacan, Isabela on Feb. 5.

Packs of cocaine worth P125 million were also found near Sorsogon shores on Jan. 3.

The illegal drugs were believed to have come from a cargo vessel that sank off Northern Samar at the height of Tropical Depression Agaton.

“Some offices are supposed to be involved in the detection, monitoring and interdiction of potential seaborne drug traffickers, but they appear to be sleeping on their jobs,” Barbers said.