ILLEGAL drugs that allegedly came from the magnetic lifters abandoned in a warehouse in Cavite may now be circulating in Mindanao, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Aaron Aquino said on Monday, December 17.
Aquino said that based on impurity profiling test, the illegal drugs seized during various operations in the National Capital Region (NCR), Cavite and Mindanao have a “high correlation.”
"(Meaning) High ang similarity nung drugs na nakuha natin sa MICP (Manila International Container Port) doon sa kumakalat na drugs. Ang ibig sabihin noon, iisa ang source, iisa ang manufacturing, the way it was produced was the same," Aquino said.
On August 7, anti-narcotics operatives recovered from two magnetic s
lifters, shipped from Malaysia, over 500 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) worth P4.3 billion.
On August 9, PDEA agents, together with local policemen, discovered four empty magnetic lifters in a warehouse in Barangay F. Reyes, GMA, Cavite.
Aquino earlier said that the empty magnetic lifters may have contained a ton of illegal drugs, which are also worth billions of pesos.
The PDEA has filed charges against several personalities over their alleged involvement in the shipping of the shabu-containing magnetic lifters.
Among those who were charged were former senior superintendent Eduardo Paderon Acierto, former PDEA Deputy Director General for Administration Ismael Gonzales Fajardo Jr., former Customs Intelligence Agent Jimmy Guban, Police Inspector Lito Pirote, and Joseph Dimayuga.
Other respondents over the seizure of shabu in magnetic lifters abandoned in the MICP were Chan Yee Wah, Emily Daprosa Luquingan, Vedastro Cabral Baraquel Jr., Maria Lagrimas Abelgas Catipan, Alex B. Padlan, Zhauq Quan or Zhang Quan, Gorgonio V. Necessario, Myra C. Tan, Terence L. Uytingban, Avelino S. Tendera, and entities SN Logistics and Ben Line Agencies Philippines.
The Zhong Consultancy Co. Inc. (Nonito Estorninos Jr., Li Jie); Red Day Machinery Parts Corporation (Ramon Tuyay, John Leric Olavario, Maribeth Olavario, Minerva Verso, and Chung-Chun Hsu); Yida Equipment Crane Limited Company (Le Thi Thuy, Luu Thi Thu Huong, Kan Yi Hong); Dong Trieu Trading and Import/Export Service Trading Company Limited (Du Quoc Duong); Chen Wei Cheng, Ping Cheung Fung, Roy Wang, John Doe, Leynard Doe, All Systems Logistic, Inc. (Roy Baldon); SMYD Trading (Marina De la Cruz Signapan, Alexander Dames, Katrina Cuasay, Miguella Santos, as real owner), Attorney Zsae Carrie De Guzman, Head, X-Ray Inspection Project; Benjamin Cajucom, Shift Supervisor, X-Ray Inspection Project; Manuel Martinez, Operator, X-Ray Inspection Project; Dolores Domingo, Appraiser; Chinese No. 2 alias Zhou Quan; Chinese No. 3 Chen Wei Cheng; Chinese No. 4 alias Cory Yibos; Chinese No. 6 alias Francis Doe; Chinese No. 12 alias Glenn Doe; Eric Doe; and Bong Doe were charged over the smuggling of the magnetic lifters found in Cavite. (SunStar Philippines)