(Eagle News) — Customs chief Isidro Lapeña still has the trust of President Rodrigo Duterte despite the smuggling of an estimated P6.8 billion of shabu into the country last week, the Palace said on Monday, Aug. 13.
“Buo ang paniniwala at tiwala pa rin ni Presidente kay General Lapeña at ang nais niyang mangyari is paano masusugpo ito at matigil na itong practice na ito, at hahabulin pa rin natin yung kung ano man yung nakapasok kung meron nang nakapasok,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
The Palace made the comment on the day Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he has instructed the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the “latest incidents of drug smuggling..”
“Considering the huge value of the illegal drugs involved and the relative ease by which they were transported into Philippine territory, our investigation will consider all government agencies, particularly the (Bureau of Customs) and private shippers, brokers, cargo handlers, warehousemen, even other law enforcement agents, who may have something to do with these unlawful acts,” Guevarra said.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency discovered the magnetic lifters that looked like the ones containing 500 kilograms of illegal drugs earlier intercepted in a Manila port in Cavite.
A check, however, of the lifters in Cavite showed they were already empty.
The PDEA said the lifters were supposed to have contained some 1,000 kilograms of shabu. Moira Encina
