LEGAZPI CITY -- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has confirmed that the block containing white crystalline granules fished out Thursday morning in the waters of Baras town in Catanduanes was cocaine.
Police Maj. Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Philippine National Police (PNP) Bicol spokesperson, said the PDEA laboratory on Thursday made the confirmation.
PDEA chemist Abegail Miranda, in her report, said the qualitative examination gave a positive result on the presence of cocaine with a net weight of 1,011.4 grams.
The block of cocaine was fished out by fisherman John Anthony Tabinass 27, of Barangay Putsan, off the waters of Baras town at around 11 a.m.
He turned over the item to the Baras town police station, which brought it on Friday to the PNP regional office here.
In a phone interview, Christian Frivaldo, PDEA acting regional director, said they are still validating whether the blocks of cocaine found previously in the waters off Camarines Norte, Sorsogon and Catanduanes came from one source.
"Drug profiling process takes a while since we have limited capabilities in knowing the chemistry, the quality of the drugs, where it was produced,” Frivaldo said.
He said the drug samples taken from the cocaine found in Sorsogon, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes would be submitted to the Australian Federal Police and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency for profiling to determine the possible sources of the cocaine.
Frivaldo said the possible cocaine source reference would be countries where the drug are produced, such as Mexico and Colombia.
For shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), the agency could determine the source of supply whether it came from Thailand, Vietnam, or China. (PNA)
