MANILA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Philippine authorities have seized 1.8 tons of methamphetamine drugs, the single-largest haul in the country's history, said Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Tuesday.
The drugs, valued at 13.3 billion pesos (roughly 233.4 million U.S. dollars), were confiscated on Monday in Batangas province, south of capital Manila.
Police Major Luis De Luna told reporters that police discovered the illegal drugs during a regular inspection at a checkpoint in the province. The driver of the van carrying the drugs has been arrested and is under custody.
"This is the biggest shipment of shabu (the local name of methamphetamine) that we confiscated," Marcos told reporters, vowing to stop drug shipments from entering the country.
Marcos warned the drug traffickers that his government will not relent in its efforts to stamp out illicit drug trade.
Official data shows the Marcos administration has launched 36,803 anti-illegal drugs operations from July 2022 to Dec. 2023, confiscating 13.2 tons of illegal drugs and arresting 49,700 drug suspects. ■
