He said he would file a resolution today, if House offices are open, or at the latest on Monday to formally propose the inquiry.

“We are saddened and alarmed by this turn of events in our beloved province, one of the growth centers in Central Luzon. Pampanga is not known as the home ground of drug traffickers, but the latest drug confiscations are giving it a bad image. If this is an incipient problem in our area, let us nip it in the bud,” he said.

Gonzales sought the investigation in aid of legislation a day after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that the authorities have seized 530 kilos of shabu in a warehouse in Mexico town.

Remulla said the contraband entered the country through the Subic Freeport and those behind the shipment, including some foreigners, were still being pursued.

Gonzales said the drug seizure in Mexico town is the latest in a series of drug confiscations in Pampanga.

In the latter part of last month, police reportedly recovered 200 kilos of shabu in a vehicle abandoned in the parking lot of a supermarket in Barangay Mabiga, City of Mabalacat, he said.

“The estimated street value of the contraband is staggering – P3.6 billion for the seized shabu in Mexico and P1.3 billion for the Mabalacat shabu,” he said.

He added that he and other lawmakers would be interested in finding out who are the persons involved in the drug shipments, how these entered the country and where the substances were being distributed.

The Pampanga lawmaker pointed out that the recent confiscations highlight the gravity of the illegal drug problem in the country.

He commended law enforcement agencies involved in seizing shabu in Mexico, Mabalacat and other areas, including the interception of shabu worth more than P400 million along the North Luzon Expressway in Pampanga in the middle of 2022.

Gonzales urged these agencies and local and barangay officials to strengthen and heighten their surveillance and monitoring of drug traffickers and other lawless elements in their areas.

“The drug problem and other illegal activities are a concern of both the national government and local government units,” he said.

He also called for the revocation of business permits of Subic Freeport locators involved in the entry of contraband and the warehouses and other business establishments where the shipments were hidden and seized.

Batay sa panayam ng Newsline Central Luzon sa tagapag-salita ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency o PDEA na si Glenn Guillermo, ang naturang halaga ng ilegal na droga ay ang mga nasamsam simula noong January hanggang August 2023.

Ipinaliwanag ni Guillermo na ito ay mula sa collaboration ng PDEA, Philippine National Police at National Bureau of Investigation kung kaya malaki ang naging datos.

Umabot naman sa 2,996 ang ikinasang anti-drug operations at nasa 4,475 indibidwal ang nahuli at kinasuhan dahil sa droga.

Sinabi pa ni Guillermo na kaya malaki ang interdiction dahil sa mga nakukuhang droga sa Port of Clark, ngunit agad din niton nilinaw na hindi source ng illegal drugs ang Pampanga kundi daanan lamang ng mga smuggled mula sa ibang bansa.

Ang isa kasi umano sa paraan ng mga sindikato ay ang pagdadala nito sa pamamagitan ng parcel.

Bukod dito, kahapon ng ihayag ng NBI ang nasabat na ilegal na droga sa bayan ng Mexico, Pampanga na nagtitimbang ng 530 kilograms na nagkakahalaga ng 3.6 billion pesos na idinaan umano sa Port of Subic.

Dahil dito ay iminungkahi ni Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla na muling isailalim sa training ang mga K9 dogs na katuwang ng mga awtoridad sa mga pantalan at paliparan.

Batay sa pahayag ni Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, ang ipinagbabawal na droga ay nagkakahalaga ng 3.6 billion pesos.

Sinabi ni Remulla na ang kargamento ay nagmula sa Thailand at hinaluan ng iba pang produkto tulad ng pork rinds at dog foods.

Dumating umano ito sa bansa sa pamamagitan ng Port of Subic noong September 18.

Dagdag ng kalihim, ito na ang pinaka-mataas na nasamsam na iligal na droga sa ilalim ng administrasyong Marcos.