Senators concerned about operations of Mexican drug cartel in PH

MANILA, Philippines — A couple of senators expressed concern Friday about the alleged entry  into the country of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel, which is reputed to be the most powerful drug organization in the world today.

“The Chinese triad is nothing compared to this. This is more dangerous.  This is more depraved,” Senator Vicente Sotto III told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Sotto, a former chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said the Sinaloa cartel kills not only police officials but also judges in Latin America.

“The government should prioritize this.  Prosecution, enforcement and preventive education should be primordial over all other concerns,” Sotto said.

Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency should brief the Senate on the Mexican cartel’s presence in the country.

“This is cause for serious concern. As chair of the committee… I deem it necessary that the committee gets a thorough briefing from the PNP and PDEA on this grave national concern as soon as possible,” Poe said in a text message.

Poe said a briefing by these two agencies would inform the legislature about “what is needed to respond adequately.”

“This menace needs to be nipped in the bud as it is a real threat to our society,” Poe added.

Sotto said the P400 million worth of methamphethamine hydrochloride seized from the Sinaloa cartel’s alleged base in Batangas barely scratched the surface of the multi-billion illegal drug trade in the country.

According to  Sotto, there are in the Philippines approximately 1.6 million drug dependents, half of whom use methamphethamine or shabu.

Sotto said that if 800,000 drug users sniff a gram of shabu a week at P1,800 a gram for one year, “the amount will run into the billions.”

“These thugs are even richer than the government of the Philippines,” Sotto said.

The PNP and the PDEA said Thursday that a joint operation by them resulted in the confiscation of P400 million worth of shabu and the arrest of three suspects at a game fowl farm in Lipa City in Batangas on Christmas Day.

They claimed the raid confirmed the presence in the country of the Mexican drug cartel allegedly in coordination with Chinese drug lords.

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