By Alexander Lopez

BIG HAUL. PDEA operatives seize 14 packs of suspected shabu, weighing about 14 kg. and valued at PHP95.2 million, shown with the spare tire where they were hidden, during an operation at the Lipata Port in Barangay Lipata, Surigao City on Saturday morning (March 14, 2026). The operatives also arrested the suspected courier, a 23-year-old male resident of Napindan, Taguig City. (Photo courtesy of PDEA-13)

BUTUAN CITY – Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 13 (Caraga Region) operatives seized suspected shabu, valued at more than PHP95 million, and arrested a man believed to be its courier, during an operation conducted at the Lipata Port in Surigao City on Saturday morning.

In its report, the PDEA-13 identified the suspect as a 23-year-old resident of Napindan, Taguig City.

Confiscated from him were 14 packs of suspected shabu, weighing about 14 kg., with an estimated street value of PHP95.2 million, an Android mobile phone, and a gray Toyota Hilux pick-up.

According to the initial report of PDEA-13, with help from a K-9, the contraband was discovered concealed inside the vehicle’s spare tire.

“The success of the operation is attributed to the joint efforts of different law enforcement agencies,” Dindo Abellanosa of the PDEA-13 information office said in a phone interview.

He said that working through inter-agency maritime monitoring and the region’s local government units is among the priority strategies of PDEA-13 being implemented by Regional Director Laurifel Gabales.

The operation was carried out with the support of the Surigao City Police and Surigao del Norte’s Maritime Police and Coast Guard Station.

Abellanosa said the suspect is now under the custody of PDEA-13, while the confiscated illegal drugs will undergo laboratory tests. (PNA)