Foiled!
Has the country’s drug problem become worse? Was the Duterte administration justified in launching its bloody war on illegal drugs, after all?
Such an impression has been repeated on social media following last month’s massive drug haul by Laos authorities, who intercepted 521 kilograms of suspected “shabu” aboard a chartered Learjet bound for Manila. Valued at approximately P3.5 billion, the drug shipment originated from the Golden Triangle, the notorious drug production hub located where the borders of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet.
So far, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have identified at least 11 persons of interest (POIs) in the incident, including former Bangsamoro Transition Authority parliament member Edrieza Hadji Nasser Rimbang (“Sultan”), the alleged mastermind and financier of the operation.
Persons of interest
Also named as POIs were Fahad Mulok Dibarosan, who was arrested in Laos in connection with the shipment, and Police Master Sgt. Aileen Jayne Manalo Mendoza of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Aviation Security Group, who allegedly arranged the chartered jet as well as the flight and hangar/landing rights. She is currently in restrictive custody. The other POIs are former commercial pilot Rioklyn Pizarras Toledo, Abdulkarim K. Macalatas (consignee), Christian Fabrigas, Rohaniah E. Rimbang, Hilario B. de Vera, Abdullah Rimbang Macarimbang, Aldren Nadal Samante, and Rudy Isidro.
While Rimbang had strongly protested his innocence in a video statement, saying he was being implicated because of his close ties to the Duterte family, PDEA spokesperson Joseph Frederick Calulut said “We have documents, we have evidence indicating that it was Rimbang who provided the money.”
On Oct. 1, Laotian authorities flagged the private jet at Luang Prabang International Airport after it departed from Subang, Malaysia. The aircraft was reportedly booked by a Filipino suspect to transport goods declared as vape products to Manila. Instead, authorities found shabu in 23 pieces of luggage following Customs clearance.
High-level conspiracy
That the operation was a high-level conspiracy at a massive scale was apparent in the number of people involved, starting with a former BPA parliamentarian, down to a police sergeant and a former pilot. That it had been flagged by possible informants also speaks of how such an arrangement could have been done so flagrantly many times before that its modus had become known and caught the attention of Laos authorities.
Even more concerning, however, is how it took a foreign government to catch the billion-peso operation, a reflection of either collusion between the drug smugglers and our Customs officials or proof of how clueless local authorities are to new and sophisticated smuggling schemes.
The sorry incident can only firm up the country’s image as a transshipment point for drugs, a perception that started gaining traction in 2025, when local fishers and maritime authorities recovered billions of pesos worth of floating illegal drugs—including methamphetamine (shabu), cocaine, and high-grade marijuana—in Philippine waters. Huge amounts of floating parcels of illegal drugs were thought to have been discarded from foreign “mother ships,” to be fished out by associates of the drug criminals at identified coastlines, including those of Zambales, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Palawan, and Batanes.
It doesn’t help any that yesterday, Manila’s port authorities intercepted 200 kilos of shabu valued at around P1.3 billion, again from Laos.
The Senate’s legislative inquiry into the aborted Laos-Manila shabu haul is thus a most welcome response, as it looks into high-level collusion among government officials, drug cartels, and couriers. Just as crucial is to flag, overhaul, and strengthen the lax and what seem to be inadequate clearance procedures at Customs and aviation security. As Sen. Raffy Tulfo noted during the Senate hearing of the committee on public services that he chairs, “A sergeant alone cannot do this.”
Financial flow
Tapping the Anti-Money Laundering Council should meanwhile help the PNP trace the financial flow of billions of pesos and identify possible cohorts, including culpable banks. Sultan Rimbang, whom his lawyers had promised to present before the PDEA this week for his statement, should also be thoroughly investigated for the source of the funds he allegedly provided, amounting to P11.5 million, including a $120,000 aircraft charter, to the operation.
Just as commendable is the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s expansion of the ongoing probe to include private companies and individuals who might be complicit in the foiled attempt. The agency has issued 40 subpoenas to some companies with personnel coming from Subic and the Metro Manila area and has managed to reach the airline company that owned the chartered jet.
The government, too, would do well to work with Laos authorities to surface other details of this lucrative drug trade, and possibly learn from them how to spot and stop such nefarious activities at the source.
