CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Pampanga Third District Representative Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. has asked the House of Representatives to investigate the recent seizures of illegal drugs in his province.
Gonzales said he will propose the inquiry as soon as possible.
“We are saddened and alarmed by this turn of events in our beloved province, one of the growth centers in Central Luzon. Pampanga is not known as the home ground of drug traffickers, but the latest drug confiscations are giving it a bad image. If this is an incipient problem in our area, let us nip it in the bud,” he said.
Gonzales sought the investigation in aid of legislation a day after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that authorities have seized 530 kilos of shabu worth P3.6 million in a warehouse in Mexico town.
Remulla said the prohibited drugs entered the country through the Subic Freeport.
He said individuals behind the shipment, including some foreigners, are still being pursued by law enforcement agencies.
Gonzales said the drug seizure in Mexico town is the latest in a series of drug confiscations in Pampanga.
Police recently recovered 200 kilos of shabu in a vehicle abandoned in the parking lot of a supermarket in Barangay Mabiga, City of Mabalacat, he said.
“The estimated street value of the contraband is staggering - P3.6 billion for the seized shabu in Mexico and P1.3 billion for the Mabalacat shabu,” Gonzales said.
The lawmaker added that he and other House representatives will be interested in finding out who are the persons involved in the drug shipments, how these entered the country and where the substances will be being distributed.
The Pampanga lawmaker pointed out that the recent confiscations highlight the gravity of the illegal drug problem in the country.
He commended law enforcement agencies involved in seizing shabu in Mexico, Mabalacat and other areas, including the interception of shabu worth more than P400 million along the North Luzon Expressway in Pampanga in the middle of 2022.