A TOTAL of P518,480,814.39 worth of assets and properties representing proceeds of illegal drug activities have been subjected to civil forfeiture and covered by a freeze order since 2022, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The agency, in a statement, said of the figure, P4,039,080 worth of parcels of land, motor vehicles, and firearms belonging to drug money launderers were forfeited in favor of the government, while cash in bank accounts, vehicles, and plots of lands amounting to P514,441,734.39 were either frozen or preserved.
Portions of the drug money were the subject of 28 money laundering cases referred by PDEA itself to the Anti-Money Laundering Council for financial investigation, and 41 cases filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The PDEA, in collaboration with AMLC, DOJ, and other private and public entities, vowed to continue tracking down the trail of drug money and cut the flow of proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs by arresting, forfeiting, and freezing the assets of drug money launderers.
The institutionalization of PDEA deputized Anti-Money Laundering Council financial investigators tasked to investigate monetary instruments was a real shot in the arm for the country’s drug money laundering investigations previously done by a limited number of AMLC investigators, PDEA said.