by Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–A cargo of shabu, about 37 kilos and with an estimated market value of P277.5 million, was confiscated by the police and port authorities after it was discovered during a routine inspection of cargoes at the seaport in Allen, Northern Samar at around 6 p.m. on Saturday (August 31).
Personnel of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit in Northern Samar (lead unit), the Northern Samar Police Police Office-Provincial Intelligence Unit, and the PNP Maritime Law, together with PDEA 8-Northern Samar Provincial Office and Northern Samar Seaport Interdiction Unit, conducted a K9 inspection/Inflagrante Delicto operation at the port in Brgy Jubasan, Allen, Northern Samar on August 31, 2024 at around 6:00 PM.
While the inspection was going on, the suspected transporter of the illegal items, identified only as Alias Roel, managed to escape, prompting a manhunt operation that is currently underway.
Authorities said it was the PNP’s second biggest interception of a shabu shipment after the one in October of 2019 when 44 bags of shabu stacked in two cars from Manila were found at a checkpoint in Gandara town, supposedly on the way to Ormoc City then to Cebu City.
The police interception that time was the biggest haul of shabu, shipped via Samar, worth almost P600 million. Six suspects were arrested then, including a pregnant woman and a 14-year-old boy. —Miriam G. Desacada