Who let the drugs through? Remulla questions past port security
Personnel from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) cut through cardboard boxes during an evidence presentation at the ICTSI Compound in Port Area, Manila, on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News MANILA — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Thursday wondered aloud how illegal drugs managed to enter the country through ports in previous years, following the seizure of more than P1.36 billion worth of suspected shabu at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
Remulla said the latest interception of around 200 kilograms of suspected shabu from a shipment originating in Laos showed the government’s intensified efforts against international drug trafficking.
“We interdicted mga 17 tons on the open sea, so now they are trying to go through other routes. Ang tanong dito, bakit ‘yung last six years before 2022 walang nahuli ni isa?” Remulla said.
(The question here is: How come there were no seizures in the si years before 2022?)
He also cited the increase in the price of shabu — from P3,800 in 2019 to around P6,800 at present — as a sign that anti-drug trafficking efforts are working.
“Bakit nakakalusot at sino nagpapalusot dati sa ports ng Manila?” he asked.
(Why did it get through and who let it get through the ports of Manila?)
Following successive drug smuggling incidents involving shipments from Laos, Remulla said the government would subject all shipments from there to closer scrutiny.
He said the latest shipment traveled from Laos to Hong Kong before reaching Manila, with the suspected shabu concealed inside boxes declared as cardboard.
Remulla clarified, however, that the latest seizure was not necessarily connected to the 521-kilogram shabu shipment intercepted at the Luang Prabang International Airport in Laos last month.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police is investigating possible links between the two major drug interceptions.
PNP chief PGen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said authorities are working to identify those behind the operations, dismantle their supply routes “and ensure that the Philippines will never become a safe passage for international drug syndicates.”
Nartatez said the PNP is strengthening surveillance and intelligence-sharing with local and foreign law enforcement agencies to detect and intercept illegal drug shipments moving through international trade routes.
“We are examining these major seizures beyond their individual circumstances to determine whether they point to a common drug trafficking network operating across borders,” he said.