Nagpahayag ng matinding pagkabahala ang Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) sa malaking pagtaas ng kalakalan ng illegal drug trafficking gamit ang internet.
Ani PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva, nang pumasok ang COVID-19 pandemic, sinamantala ng drug traffickers ang “technological boom” kung saan ang mga transaksyon ay halos ginawa sa pamamagitan ng internet-based fund transfers, online-booking courier services at internet messaging applications ay ginawa “upang makipag-ugnayan sa kanilang mga cohorts at mga mamimili.''
Ang parehong nakakaalarma sa PDEA ay ang pagpapatuloy ng mga ipinagbabawal na market site sa darknet: mga online na tindahan sa overlay na network na iyon sa loob ng internet na maa-access lamang gamit ang mga anonymity proxy network.
“A cursory sweep of darknet sites offering illegal substances and services revealed brisk business in illegal drugs such as kush and crystal methamphetamine/ methamphetamine hydrochloride, among others,” sabi ng PDEA.
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Ibinunyag din ng ahensya na ang mga cryptocurrencies - hindi kilalang digital na pera batay sa teknolohiya ng blockchain, ay patuloy na nagpapasigla sa mga ligal at ipinagbabawal na online na merkado.
“Pioneer cryptocurrency Bitcoin continues to be popular even with the advent of altcoins like Ethereum. As of November 2020, the Philippines plays host to at least 17 registered ventures that provide virtual currency exchange services,’’ dagdag nito.
Sa pagkilala na ang endpoint ng lahat ng transaksyon ng ilegal na droga, personal man o online, ay ang paghahatid ng kontrabando, sinabi ni Villanueva na binuo ng PDEA ang kooperasyon ng mga kumpanyang E-commerce at courier services.
Noong Nob. 24, 2020, isang memorandum of agreement (MOA) ang nilagdaan sa courier service Lalamove Philippines Inc. at Lala App Philippines Inc. na may katulad na kasunduan ay naipasok sa courier service na J&T Express noong Disyembre 2020 at isa pang MOA ang nilagdaan sa Wallstreet Courier Services Incorporated-kilala bilang Ninja Van noong Hunyo 2020.
“PDEA is looking at previous law enforcement models to aid strategy formulation against Darknet markets, such as Operation DisrupTor, which was run by the European police agency Europol and the US Department of Justice (USDOJ) in 2020, where 179 search warrants were served and more than 170 vendors and buyers of illicit goods on the dark web were arrested,’’ ani Villanueva.
Katulad nito, matagumpay na na-intercept ng PDEA ang 3,034 Tablets ng methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) o ecstasy na ipinadala mula The Netherlands noong Enero 2022 at 387.5 gramo ng shabu na ipinadala mula sa Cape Town, South Africa noong 2021.
“Technology is both a boon and a bane. We benefit a lot from the cost savings, convenience and safety afforded by technologies such as online banking and voice calls via VoIP; but we must remember that criminals will take advantage of these technologies as well. It is not enough to keep pace with these drug trafficking groups; rather, we must be one or two steps ahead,” ani Villanueva.
Chito Chavez
