Duterte: P6.8 billion worth of ‘shabu’ in magnetic lifters ‘pure speculation’

President Rodrigo Duterte leads the launching of the Go Negosyo's "Pilipinas Angat Lahat" program at the Rizal Hall in Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018. (Photo from an RTVM video)

President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed as "pure speculation" on Tuesday the claim of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that an estimated P6.8-billion billion worth of crystal meth, or "shabu," was smuggled into the country thorugh magnetic lifters.

"I would like to address myself to all government agencies. Iyong sabi nila na they found that the metal but they opened it, there was none. It was pure speculation," Duterte said during his speech before businessmen on Tuesday at the launching of the "Pilipinas Angat Lahat" program in Malacañang.

The President was referring to the claim of PDEA that a ton of shabu with an estimated value of P6.8 billion had been smuggled in the country after authorities found four magnetic lifters with traces of the illegal drug in a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.

Duterte told his officials not to be speculative, citing he was not convinced that another drug shipment was smuggled in the country.

"I am not convinced. Next time you do not go into a speculative contents," he said.

PDEA discovered the magnetic lifters a year after P6.4 billion worth of shabu from China slipped through the Bureau of Customs.

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