ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two Filipino fishermen recovered a 2.2-pound brick of cocaine packed in watertight plastic off Tawi-Tawi’s South Ubian town in southern Philippines, just 137 nautical miles from Malaysia’s state of Sabah.
The fishermen,
brothers Alih and Sabri Iskan, turned over the cocaine to their village
chieftain who handed it to the local police. The cocaine, worth over P5
million, was eventually turned over on Friday, December 16, to the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency.
Authorities
were investigating the source of the cocaine and who was behind it.
In 2019,
fishermen also recovered at least 46 bricks of cocaine washing up in Quezon and
Sorsogon provinces. And more cocaine bricks found along the shores of the provinces of Camarines Norte and Quezon in
Luzon; and Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte in Mindanao in southern
Philippines. The cocaine bricks were believed to be owned by a Chinese drug
syndicate.
The recovery of the illegal
drug came a day after the Philippines and Indonesia, which is near Sabah, ended
a coordinated border patrol meeting in Davao City. Both countries are eyeing
more frequent sea border patrols next year.
Filipino Army Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, chief of the Eastern Mindanao
Command, and his Indonesian counterpart, RADM Dr. TSNB Hutabarat MMS, commander
of the Indonesian Navy's 2nd Fleet Command, said next year’s joint border
patrols is part of the 12-point agenda they are proposing with their respective
governments.
The joint patrol between the Indonesian Navy and the Philippine Navy aims to
enhance interoperability and secure the maritime borders of both countries
against piracy, illegal crossing, and other criminal activities carried out
four legs a year through Harbor and Sea Phases. (Mindanao Examiner)
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