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Philippines seizes 175 million USD meth haul

Two naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of the main island of Luzon just before dawn, in a joint operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippine Navy on June 20 announced that it had seized an illegal drug shipment worth 10 billion pesos (175 million USD), marking one of the country’s biggest narcotics hauls on record.

Commodore Edward de Sagon said that two naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of the main island of Luzon just before dawn, in a joint operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Four people, including one foreigner, were arrested.

He said local authorities have yet to identify the origin of the drugs, but they believe the haul was transferred from a larger vessel to the fishing boat.

Philippine Navy spokesperson John Percie Alcos said in a statement that this is one of the largest illegal drug apprehensions in the history of the Philippine Navy.

Earlier this month, a large volume of drugs was found adrift just north of the area.

The country’s biggest-ever drug seizure took place in April last year, when more than 2 tonnes of meth were confiscated at a police checkpoint on a road in Batangas province, south of the capital Manila./.

VNA
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