JOHOR BARU: Police are awaiting confirmation from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on claims that a Filipino politician funded the charter of a private jet used to transport 521kg of syabu from Subang to Laos.
Federal Narcotics Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said police had identified two Filipinos who booked the private jet.
"The Philippine syndicate hired private aviation services to transport drugs from Laos to the Philippines.
"We are still awaiting official confirmation from the Philippine authorities on whether a politician there was involved in the syndicate.
"That is what we have gathered so far based on media reports from the country," he told a press conference at the Johor police contingent headquarters.
Yesterday, Manila media reported PDEA spokesman Joseph Frederick Calulut as saying that a politician from Mindanao in the southern Philippines had allegedly funded the rental of a private jet carrying 521kg of syabu worth 3.54 billion pesos in Laos.
Reports also said the politician had paid about 3.1 million pesos (RM200,880) to charter the aircraft.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd