Overview
- Authorities publicly incinerated about 4.2 metric tons of cocaine on Thursday, a haul the government values at roughly $336 million with samples kept for court evidence.
- Investigators have charged the police chief of the highway patrol and the head of the major crimes unit and named a deputy commander at Roberts International Airport as a suspect, and prosecutions of 17 people have been announced.
- The shipment was seized during a July 21 raid at a Duazon property where two foreign nationals—a Serbian and a dual Colombian-Spanish national—were detained and are being questioned.
- Police said officers found equipment such as a Starlink router, a diving suit and waterproof GPS trackers in the Duazon site, which officials and analysts say points to sophisticated maritime smuggling and remote monitoring techniques.
- Experts place the case in a wider trend of West Africa serving as a transit hub for Europe-bound cocaine, with groups estimating about 30% of that trade now moving through the region and increasing calls for international intelligence and enforcement support.