Philippine lawmakers have planned to conduct a separate investigation on the reported smuggling of illegal drugs worth USD 118 million.
Lawmaker Robert Ace Barbers, chair of the House Committee on Dangerous drugs, said that the investigation will commence this week, as he announced that this could be the reason why there is an ongoing rift between the aid of a Bureau of Customs and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
The Mindanao lawmaker further said that this situation is alarming because there could be a conspiracy between illegal drug syndicates and Bureau of Customs officials. "This is a wakeup call that all is not well in the Bureau of Customs," Barbers told Philippine journalists.
In the initial investigation, a registered importer from China was also involved in the importation of illegal drugs, where a record of 653 shipments was made in just 3 months.
Lawmakers were surprised that no inspection was done on the goods and the bulk was released in less than five hours when it normally takes more than 24 hours to inspect the goods.
Intelligence information reaching government officials reported that illegal drugs traders have stopped manufacturing illegal drugs in the country because of the campaign against them. Thus, illegal drug traders have resorted to the importation of illegal drugs into the Philippines.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that he is launching a campaign to run against 4 million drug traders and addicts to eradicate illegal drugs in the country.
Duterte has directed to kill the last drug lord in the country. On Sunday, police authorities have killed a mayor in Mindanao along with his bodyguards after they were reported to have fought back police officers who were serving a warrant of arrest.
