Gov. Evardone asks PGMA to burn cocaine found in 2 Samar provinces
TACLOBAN CITY- Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone said he is asking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to direct and order the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police to immediately burn and destroy all of the cocaine found and recovered along the shores of Eastern and Northern Samar provinces.
PDEA and the PNP record show that as of yesterday (Dec. 27) a total of 147 kilos of cocaine or close to P800 million worth of said illegal drugs were already accounted by the authorities earlier found by the fishermen in shoreline of San Policarpo, Llorente, Balangkayan and Maydolong all in Eastern Samar.
As a result of follow-up operations in the two provinces, 47 kilos of cocaine were also recovered by fishermen along the shoreline of the University of Eastern Philippines in Catarman, Northern Samar.
This shows the total of 190 kilos of cocaine were already found in the two provinces, while the PDEA and PNP authorities continue to alert the residents of barangays and local leaders that any recovery of cocaine should immediately be turned over to proper authorities.
PDEA said that cocaine is being sold at P5 million per kilo.
Evardone urged the President to burn the said illegal drugs that will be witnessed by LGU’s and Non-Government Organizations, as the syndicates that own the illegal drugs might try to recover because of the huge value of cocaine in the market.
“We should do everything to prevent it from flooding the market,” Evardone, who is also the presidential adviser on local government affairs and public policy, said.
Eighty-four kilograms more of cocaine had been recovered from several coastal municipalities of Eastern Samar on Dec. 23, bringing it to 143 kgs. the total amount turned over to the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Regional Office No. VIII (PDEA VIII) by the Eastern Samar Provincial Police Office (ESPPO).
In a press conference held yesterday morning, PDEA RO VIII Regional Director Julius R. Navales revealed that the cocaine bricks were sourced from the following municipalities:
Sulat, E. Samar -7 bricks + 1 kilo
San Policarpo, E. Samar -¾ kilo
Maydolong, E. Samar – 2 bricks
Borongan City, E.Samar -12 bricks + 3 ¼ kilos
Llorente, E. Samar – 24 bricks + ½ kilo
14th IB, Oras, E. Samar – 3 bricks
Llorente, E. Samar – 12 bricks
Balangkayan, E. Samar – 1 brick
Salcedo, E. Samar – 4 bricks + 6 kilos
CIDG 8, Tacloban City – 6 bricks.
Yesterday’s retrieval operations were enhanced by the presence of two K-9 units from the PDEA Regional Office VII that patrolled coastal barangays in Llorente, E. Samar, resulting in the recovery of 12 bricks in that municipality.
The 84 bricks are currently in the custody of PDEA 8 for proper disposition.
Meanwhile, continuous monitoring is in place to ferret out more cocaine bricks that may be washed ashore.
At the PDEA central office the other day, authorities burned 15 kilos of cocaine which was led by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
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