Illegal drug syndicates have returned to transshipment operations to bring narcotics into the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Friday.

PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva said they noticed this shift in strategy following successful anti-illegal drug operations with the police, military and National Bureau of Investigation.

"The main difference between our operation now and before is that we share vital intelligence and we work together in a main operation. So this is what has happened for the past several months since last year. We had 11 big operations conducted by the inter-agency," he said in a radio interview.

"Before they bring it in through the containers in Customs. Now they no longer enter the terminal. The illegal drugs from international waters are directly fetched by small boats that bring them to unprotected coastal areas," he added.

Villanueva explained that illegal drugs are being supplied by "main players" from outside the country.

"They are making the calls. We have Mexican Sinaloan. We have African drug syndicates, we have Chinese drug syndicates and syndicates coming from the Golden Triangle. So they are the ones who operate to bring drugs into the country," he said.

"The problem is their players who are directing and making the calls are outside the country so even if we seize this illegal drug, they will lose billions but eventually they will not be arrested," he added.

Villanueva admitted that there are more drug dependents to be rehabilitated as part of the government's anti-illegal drug campaign.

"We have four million drug dependents in the Philippines. Only 1.2 million of them underwent rehabilitation and reintegration programs," he said.

He said community-based rehabilitation and reformation program of the government was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Robina Asido/DMS