PNP Bicol taps Navy, fishers in anti-drug drive
LEGAZPI CITY: The Philippine National Police (PNP)–Bicol tapped the Naval Forces of Southern Luzon (Navforso) in its campaign against illegal drugs following the consecutive recovery of multi-million pesos worth of cocaine in Bicol waters.
Chief Supt. Antonio Gardiola Jr., PNP–Bicol regional director, presented to members of the media on Friday the 25 packs of cocaine weighing one kilo each that a villager found on the shoreline of Juag Lagoon, Barangay Calintaan in Matnog, Sorsogon on January 3.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency ( PDEA) estimated the packs of cocaine to be worth P125- million valued at P5 million each.
Gardiola said Bicol waters is the corridor used by vessels for the so-called “ghost shipment” of - cally cocaine, from Latin American countries Mexico and Brazil as well as those from China.
“We will be working closely with Naval Forces of Southern Luzon to intensify our anti-drug campaign against illegal drugs in the country. Also, we are working our partners to report to us cases like this,” he said.
The Naval Forces of Southern Luzon ( Navforsol) command is located in Barangay Rawis, Legazpi City within the regional center site of Bicol region and near the University of Santo Tomas–Legazpi here.
Robert Galvez, 55, of Barangay Calintaaan, reported to Matnog police that a plastic container - rangay Calintaan was apparently washed ashore by big waves as bad weather hit the Bicol Region.
It was the second time that pesos of high-grade cocaine in Bicol waters and off the shoreline of the region.
On December 18, 2016 two fishermen found 18 bricks of off the shores of Tiwi, Albay along Lagunoy Gulf.
Senior Insp. Jan King Calipay, former Tiwi chief of police, said each cocaine brick weighed about one kilogram and worth P5 million each or equivalent to P100 million.
Authorities believed drug syndicates off-loaded the cocaine there, apparently to evade arrest.
For four months last year, the anti-drug campaign of PNP–Bicol and PDEA confiscated multibillion worth of illegal drugs.
From July 1, 2016 to October 10, 2017, recovered were 997,316.071 grams of shabu valued at over P1.9 billion; cocaine – 12,176 grams estimated at P82.7 million and marijuana – 7,175,9802 grams worth P538,208.