Illustration by RENE ELEVERA
Shortly after the interception of P4.3 billion worth "shabu" (crystal meth) in two magnetic lifters at a port in Manila on 7 August, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Director-General Aaron Aquino in confusion with Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña about four similar hitchhikers found in a Cavite warehouse.
Although found empty then, Aquino said during a conference hearing that the sniffer dog's response and
showed other indirect evidence that the lifters had been used smuggling about P6.8 billion of shabu.
Stung by Aquino's insinuation that the customs had been negligent, Lapeña protested that they could have intercepted it if the PDEA had provided them with timely information.
President Rodrigo Duterte waded in the fight and said that the PDEA's assessment was "pure speculation".
Asked by the researcher if he still claimed that the hitchhikers had shabu, Aquino replied with a company Yes. "
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