PDEA calls on finders to surrender cocaine bricks

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday warned people who found cocaine bricks dumped into the waters off Samar to surrender them or face the full force of the law.

“Mere possession of those bricks is already a violation of the anti-drug law. If you keep the cocaine and law enforcers catch you, you risk going to jail. You have no choice,” PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago said.

He said some 1,000 kilos of cocaine remain unaccounted for and cited reports that certain individuals plan to sell the high-end drug.

Santiago said they have been on the alert after two persons from areas adjoining Samar were arrested in buy-bust operations earlier this year for pushing cocaine.

The cocaine bricks that have surfaced recently are believed part of the 1,500 kilos dumped into the sea by a Hong Kong-bound foreign ship to avoid interception by authorities.