A Filipino drug personality reportedly chartered the private jet where Laotian authorities seized 521 kilos of Philippine-bound shabu worth P3.54 billion last October 1, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Monday.
In a press briefing, PDEA Director General Isagani Nerez disclosed that one of the 13 individuals arrested during the operation, a Filipino identified only as Fahad, hails from Marawi City and is associated with a drug syndicate.
Authorities seized the illegal drugs after the Malaysian pilot of the plane refused to load them at Luang Prabang Airport. Fahad, along with 12 Malaysian and Singaporean nationals, was subsequently arrested.
“He (Fahad) is affiliated with a drug group we are pursuing. He is a friend of Boyet who chartered the plane. Boyet is also in the list of PDEA,” Nerez said, referring to PDEA’s watch list of drug personalities.
“It (payment) was done through bank transfer,” Nerez said of the hiring of the plane based in Malaysia.
“We have data on that. And Boyet is from Luzon and Fahad also has an address in Luzon. So that establish their link, they know each other,” Nerez also said.
Nerez said PDEA learned of Boyet’s involvement in the foiled drug shipment just last Sunday.
“He (Boyet) went out of the country a day earlier. His flight is going to Hong Kong,” Nerez said.
Nerez disclosed that PDEA is aware of the drug shipment, which is tied to the Sam Gor drug syndicate.
Nerez noted that if Laotian authorities had not intercepted the shipment, Philippine authorities would have done so if the aircraft proceeded with its flight plan.
Nerez also revealed that PDEA had prior information regarding a planned shipment of 1,178 kilos of shabu worth P8.01 billion aboard a fishing boat that was intercepted by Thai authorities last October 7. Six Thai crew members were nabbed during the interdiction operation.
Nerez said Philippine authorities would have seized the illegal drugs had they not been intercepted by Thai authorities.
He revealed that the fishing vessel was accosted by PDEA and Philippine Navy personnel in August, apparently on a “familiarity trip” in Philippine waters, before being released and placed under PDEA’s watch list.
“It’s on alarm so it can’t slip through (inside Philippine waters) with more than a ton (of shabu),” Nerez said of the Thai-owned vessel.
“PDEA was very sure that if the vessel entered the Philippine waters, it would have been intercepted by PDEA and relevant government agencies,” Nerez also said, stressing that “the vessel is on the PDEA’s target list.”
“We received information that there are pending two deliveries of narcotics to the Philippines and we received these information two weeks before the incident in Laos and of course that incident in Thailand,” Nerez said.
“PDEA has information two weeks prior and PDEA is prepared to interdict these two deliveries supposedly to the Philippines…Those information kept us on the vigilant mode,” Nerez also said.
Nerez said PDEA is conducting a thorough investigation to identify all other individuals involved in the failed drug shipments.
Meanwhile, anti-drug operations under the Marcos administration have resulted in the seizure of P124.58 billion worth of illegal drugs to date.
Nerez revealed that total illegal drug seizures during the entire six-year Duterte administration amounted to P91.16 billion.
“This administration has more than one year left but P124.58 billion worth of illegal drugs were already seized. That’s how significant our accomplishment is under this administration. We seized 16 tons of shabu,” Nerez said.
“The accomplishment of the past administration is 12 tons in six years. The total amount they confiscated is P91.16 billion…We still have more than one year (left under the Marcos administration) and we already surpassed all past administrations,” Nerez also said.
Nerez added that the number of deaths in anti-drug operations under the Marcos administration remains “very low, almost zero.”