THE country’s maritime regulators — Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) — have entered into an agreement with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in securing key private and public seaports to stop the entry and exit of illegal drugs.

In an Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) Enforcement Cluster Meeting last June 18 at the PDEA national headquarters in Quezon City, PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino in a statement said the agency was dealing with big drug peddlers capable of using private yachts and boats, as well as airplanes and helicopters in smuggling contraband such as illegal drugs into the country.