You won’t believe the amount of drugs we’ve busted in January alone

by Gabriel la Ó

January has been a banner month for illegal drug apprehensions. (Steve Snodgrass/ Flickr/ http://flic.kr/p/aa8yNW)

January has been a banner month for drug busts in the Philippines. If you’ve been keeping up with the news at all, you’re probably amazed at the dizzying cast of characters involved. From Sudan to the Sinaloa Cartel, we’ve had a little bit of everything come through our shores.

Now, our news pages have always had a story or two about drug raids and operations in the country every day, so you may think this is the same old, same old. But a quick glance through the events this month actually points to a pretty special start to 2014.

Just how special?

For the entire 2013, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confiscated a total of PHP 4.6 billion worth of illegal drugs.

This year, we’ve confiscated close to PHP 1.5 billion and January isn’t even over yet. At this rate, we’d be pushing double digit billions before summer is over! (This figure doesn’t even include the close to PHP 400 million that was apprehended in the Christmas day raid in Batangas, which narrowly made it to the 2013 pot.)

As nice as these record numbers are though, they do lead to some worrying thoughts about just how much of these drugs we have in this country. Reports from various law enforcement agencies have cited infiltrations from numerous international drug rings that include the Sinaloa Cartel, the African Drug Syndicate, Chinese smugglers, and of course, a healthy dose of our own local lowlifes.

That said, here’s a recap of this month’s drug-bust festivities:

Jan. 1 — Drug trader was caught with PHP 65,000 worth of shabu in a buy-bust operation.

Jan. 10 — A Sudanese citizen with suspected ties to the African Drug Syndicate was busted with possession of narcotics and maintenance of a drug den in Baguio.

Jan. 15 — Two apartment units in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig were raided. Authorities estimate the value of the confiscated drugs at PHP 100 million. Links to the Sinalo Cartel are being pursued.

Jan. 17 — Agents in Zamboanga intercepted a package containing 200 grams of shabu.

Jan. 24 — A vehicle containing approximately 200 kilograms of shabu was apprehended in Paranaque.