Philippine Navy, partners seize over $170m in drugs on foreign-crewed fishing boat

The Philippine Navy and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) recently seized a fishing vessel crewed by foreign nationals and transporting illegal narcotics off Zambales province in the northern Philippines.

Local news outlet GMA said the seizure took place at around 01:30 local time on Friday, June 20, when the joint navy and PDEA raiding team apprehended the suspect vessel.

The vessel was found to be transporting 1.5 tons of methamphetamine hydrochloride, which the navy said had an estimated street value of PHP10 billion (US$170 million).

Details on the nationalities of the arrested suspects were not disclosed.

The seized narcotics will be transferred to the navy base in nearby Subic Bay for proper documentation.

Friday's operation is the latest in a series of recent narcotics seizures conducted by Philippine authorities in the country's northern waters.

In late May, the Philippine Coast Guard recovered nine bales containing 222 kg methamphetamine hydrochloride off Zambales. This haul of narcotics had an estimated market value of PHP890 million (US$15 million).

Earlier this month, the coast guard and other partner agencies recovered over 44 bales of drugs off Pangasinan province. The bales contained a total of 630 kg of methamphetamine hydrochloride, which the coast guard said has an estimated market value of PHP4.3 billion (US$77 million).