Palawan fishermen find P20-million marijuana packages in West Ph Sea

These packages contain suspected high-grade marijuana—estimated to be worth over P20 million—and were turned over by fishermen who found them floating off the waters near Palawan. The contraband, confirmed by PDEA as “kush” marijuana, is now under safekeeping pending further laboratory tests. (Photos courtesy of PDEA-Palawan)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Authorities here have recovered over P20 million worth of suspected high-grade marijuana after packages were found drifting in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) by local fishermen, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Palawan (PDEA-Palawan) confirmed Thursday.

According to PDEA-Palawan provincial officer Christopher Torres, the initial batch of packages was discovered by fishermen and turned over to the Western Command (WesCom) of the Philippine Navy, which then coordinated with PDEA for proper handling and investigation.

“It turned out after examination conducted by our laboratory in our national office that the items are positive as high-grade marijuana or kush with an estimated weight of 17,324.5 grams (17.3 kilos) with an estimated value based on the standard of the Dangerous Drugs Board amounting to P20,789,400,” Torres told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

READ: Fisherman finds P166 M drugs at sea; turns it over to PDEA

The first batch—34 packages inside a black duffle bag—was surrendered to PDEA on September 30 after WesCom contacted the agency for assistance.

A second batch of 34 additional packages was later turned over to authorities, this time in coordination with the Palawan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) and the Provincial Intelligence Unit.

Unlike the first set, which was wrapped in a single layer of black and white plastic, the newly recovered packages had multiple layers of plastic.

Although these items are also believed to be marijuana, Torres clarified that confirmatory testing is still pending.

“We don’t know yet the total weight as this will be subjected to laboratory examinations,” Torres said.

“We also emphasize that these are still alleged illegal drugs because there is no confirmation yet from our laboratory. The items are still under our safekeeping and custody and will still be transported to Manila for testing,” Torres added.

He noted that this marks the first recorded incident of floating marijuana recovery in Palawan waters.

“Previously, we had incidents in Rizal, Quezon, and Cuyo where there were recoveries of cocaine, but this is the first time that we recovered floating marijuana here in Palawan. But this is the first time that we have [recovered] confirmed marijuana kush,” Torres said.

Authorities are continuing their investigation into the source and intended destination of the seized contraband./coa