By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — More than 200 kilos of floating cocaine were recovered from the country’s territorial waters in Luzon and Mindanao for the past two months, a Philippine National Police (PNP) official said on Tuesday.
PNP spokesperson, Col. Bernard Banac said since February up to April, the total gross weight of recovered cocaine is 217.3 kilos with total estimated value of PHP1.1 billion which were found on the shorelines or off the waters of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Island, Davao Oriental, Quezon province, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Aurora.
He said the latest recovery was on Sunday, where authorities seized around 40 bricks in the waters off Burgos, Surigao del Norte.
The Burgos Municipal Police Station received information that a fisherman found the boxes of alleged cocaine at about 4:30 p.m.
An inspection of the discovery showed similar markings with the previously recovered bricks of cocaine in Barangay Pacifico, San Isidro, Surigao del Norte on February 17.
The recovered cocaine bricks are now in the custody of the police and will be turned over to the provincial crime laboratory office.
Police have been recovering numerous cocaine blocks in the waters of several provinces on the east side.
Earlier, PNP chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde said these cocaine blocks were not intended to be distributed in the Philippines.
Citing reports with the PNP’s international counterparts, these cocaine blocks were supposed to be delivered to Papua New Guinea.
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