Golden Triangle behind P1.8B shabu seized at Manila port, says PDEA

A notorious Southeast Asian drug syndicate was tagged to be behind the almost 300 kilos of suspected shabu worth P1.8 billion seized at the Manila North Harbor on Friday, the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Saturday.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, PDEA chief Director General Aaron Aquino said the Golden Triangle international drug syndicate smuggled the confiscated illegal drugs into the country.

"Actually, hindi Chinese triad ito eh. It's the Golden Triangle drug syndicate," Aquino said.

To recall, the PDEA chief earlier said that an initial investigation showed that the Chinese drug triad may be involved in the illegal drug shipment. 

The anti-narcotics chief said the Golden Triangle syndicate was also behind the P1.9-billion worth of shabu seized in Tanza, Cavite and the P1.1-billion worth of illegal substance confiscated  at Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City.

The PDEA chief said he based his conclusion on the similarities of the packaging of the confiscated drugs from three separate operations.

"Ang pagkakahalintulad lang sa latest ay naka-wrap siya sa Chinese tea wrapper. Although iba ang itsura, almost the same ang pagkakalagay. Parang tsaa lang tapos itinago sa mga sako. 'Yun ang ginagawa nila," Aquino said.

He noted that the Golden Triangle is the most notorious and most powerful drug syndicate operating in Asia.

"Umaabot na sa Europe at sa US ang pag-smuggle ng drugs," Aquino said.

"Sa Golden Triangle tatlong bansa involved dito—'yung Laos, Myanmar, at Thailand," he said.

On Friday, the Bureau of Customs found the P1.8-billion worth of shabu inside a 40-foot container, which were declared to contain plastic resin and consigned to Wealth Lotus Empire Corporation.

The container was on board a ship named Callao Bridge V145E that traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Manila. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News