Shipments of prohibited drugs are on the rise around the Philippines, with Palawan’s three sea lanes being used as drop-off points, according to National Police chief Raul Bacalzo.
For this reason, Bacalzo said he was beefing up the capability of the Maritime Group’s Special Boat Unit based in Palawan.
Shipments of prohibited drugs are on the rise around the Philippines, with Palawan’s three sea lanes being used as drop-off points, according to National Police chief Raul Bacalzo.
For this reason, Bacalzo said he was beefing up the capability of the Maritime Group’s Special Boat Unit based in Palawan.
Bacalzo received a report from Chief Supt. Francisco Don Montenegro, director of the Maritime Group, who said that drug syndicates have been using the Balabac Strait in the south, Linapacan Strait in the north, and the vicinity of Busuanga Island along the Mindoro Strait as drop-off points.
The special unit has 112 personnel who operate a fleet of patrol gunboats and support vessels from headquarters and boatyard in Puerto Princesa City.
“The SBU stationed in Puerto Princesa will form part of a tri-lateral security system that will ensure maritime security in the international sea lanes in the waters off Palawan and in the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, bordering the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, as these sea lanes are vital to the economy of the three countries,” Bacalzo said.
The SBU also provides operational support to Police units particularly in their operations against domestic threat groups, piracy in the high seas, terrorism, intrusion, smuggling, poaching, human trafficking, and violation of environmental laws.
Montenegro said his men arrested last week six Vietnamese poachers fishing along municipal waters off Balabac Island.
He stressed the need to enhance the capability of the Maritime Police to cope with the present situation.
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