By JEFFY ALCAYDE
CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – Authorities have launched a manhunt for a Chinese woman tagged as the alleged leader of a drug syndicate behind the smuggling of suspected shabu worth ₱5.8 billion in Occidental Mindoro last Tuesday, Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor C. Remulla Jr. announced Friday, March 13.
The Philippine Army recovered 43 sacks of shabu from a twin-engine speedboat that ran aground in Sitio Agbalite, Barangay Harisson, Paluan.
Remulla said the suspect purchased the vessel in Subic and arranged the rental of a safehouse for two Chinese nationals and their Filipino cohorts.
While details about the woman remain withheld as pursuit operations continue, Remulla revealed that the syndicate may have been operating for at least a year, using a modus of unloading contraband in the high seas for pickup by smaller speedboats.
The operation was triggered when barangay officials reported the suspicious vessel to the 76th Infantry Battalion.
Army troops and CAFGU auxiliaries responded, leading to the arrest of two Chinese nationals who attempted to flee into a forested area. Confiscated from them were a satellite phone, Starlink modem, batteries, and safety gear.
Soon after, authorities also apprehended two Filipinos aboard a rubber boat near the grounded speedboat.
The seized sacks bore rice markings indicating origin from Vietnam.
PDEA chemists later confirmed the contents as shabu with over 90 percent purity, valued at ₱7,000 per gram.
Remulla admitted that the drug problem remains unresolved but stressed progress is being made. “What is important is that we managed to resolve the problem on drugs without resorting to killing anyone,” he told local media during a press briefing at the PDEA regional headquarters in Calapan City.
