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Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Friday identified the Mindanao politician allegedly involved in the attempted smuggling of P3.5 billion worth of shabu from Laos to the Philippines as former Bangsamoro Parliament member Edriezan Hadji Nasser Rimbang.
Remulla said this at a Palace briefing as he presented a link diagram of the individuals allegedly involved in the planned smuggling of 521 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.
“Sultan Edriezan Rimbang is believed to be the financier of the entire operation,” Remulla said.
“Edrieza Rimbang Nasser was a former member of parliament. Natalo siya nung huling (he lost in the recent) election,” he added.
GMA News Online is trying to get a comment from Rimbang and will publish his comment as soon as it is available.
Remulla said that Rimbang is in the same political party as former president Rodrigo Duterte, but clarified that authorities are not labeling any ethnicity, city, or people and are simply putting names to the faces of the persons of interest.
“But this is to counter the narrative that people are developing that people from Manila are the ones involved in this caper. This operation was between Sultan Edriezan Rimbang Nasser and his cohorts,” Remulla said.
On Thursday, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said a politician from Mindanao allegedly provided the funds for the private plane that would have been used to smuggle the illegal drugs. –NB, GMA News