Cocaine worth P133M found in remote Palawan coastline
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Authorities recovered over P133 million worth of suspected cocaine in the island town of Linapacan in Palawan, after a resident reported finding several suspicious packages along a remote coastline there this week, police said Thursday.
The packages, wrapped in black tape and marked “STONE,” were discovered on the beach at Sitio Calelenday in Barangay Maroyog-royog on Tuesday night by operatives from the Palawan police’s Drug Enforcement Unit, Linapacan police, and the Provincial Intelligence Unit.
Upon inspection, the boxes were found to contain about 25.21 kilos of suspected cocaine, with an estimated market value of P133,613,000.
The recovered items were turned over to the Palawan Provincial Forensic Unit (PPFU) for laboratory testing before being sent to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) office in the province for proper disposal.
PDEA Palawan provincial officer Christopher Torres said the seized drugs would remain in the custody of the PPFU and would be turned over to PDEA for destruction only upon orders from Director General Isagani Nerez.
Community reporting
PNP acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. highlighted the importance of community reporting in disrupting drug trafficking. “The role of the public is very important. Just one call, and we were able to stop such a large volume of drugs before it could ruin lives,” Nartatez said.
Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño, PNP spokesperson, warned that syndicates should not be allowed to use coastlines and islands as drop-off points.
Palawan has seen several major “floating cocaine” recoveries in recent months.
In October, PDEA intercepted packages worth about P200 million off Puerto Princesa during a maritime patrol. The following month, authorities seized roughly 24 kilos of suspected cocaine valued at P127 million in the province’s waters.
Residents have also played a key role, including a fisherman from Barangay Bagumbayan who turned over floating black dry bags containing suspected cocaine worth about P56 million.
Authorities are investigating the origin and intended destination of the latest haul and have not publicly linked it to other recent recoveries.
