SURIGAO del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, on Sunday raised concern over the possibility that drug traffickers could be using private planes and helicopters to transport illegal drugs in the country.
“There’s this [Columbian drug lord] Pablo Escobar story. He used planes to deliver drugs. As we speak, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has no presence in private hangars,” he said.
He said all concerned government agencies must double their effort to go after drug syndicates.
“Drug lords are becoming bolder and ingenious,” he said.
They have also been taking advantage of the internet technology to sell the illegal drugs, he said.
Barbers reacted to a report of some drug peddlers using the mobile-app transport network vehicle services in the transport and delivery of shabu.
He vowed to allocate funds to PDEA, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation and Department of Information and Communications Technology to back their war on illegal drugs.