The House committee on dangerous drugs and the committee on good government have established that the P6.8-billion shabu shipment was released as a result of a collusion among unscrupulous officials and employees from at least three government agencies, with the help of the private sector.
The House panels said those who had a hand in the shipment were operatives from the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Customs. They managed to manipulate and allow the entry of supposed P6.8-billion shabu shipment into the country, the House panels said.
The public hearing showed how the intelligence information on the shipment was leaked to certain individuals.
This prompted a BoC official to declare: “You can see how unscrupulous individuals had no qualms about humiliating any BoC officials to show how powerful they are. They want to show the world that they can easily destroy the reputation and cause the removal of any commissioner or top official who wanted to stop them.”
The two houses of Congress are currently investigating the drug shipment allegedly containing four magnetic lifters packed with shabu that slipped past the BoC’s Manila International Container Port.
The BoC official said that drug shipment could enter the country through different ports, not just the MICP, as long as there was connivance among individuals handling the ports.
“It’s a pity that men of good character are being subjected to public ridicule. We hope that in the end, the findings of the House committees and the Senate blue ribbon committee will give justice to those who were not involved in the supposed drug shipment and severely punish those who were responsible for it,” the official said.