By Aaron Recuenco Eighteen more bricks of suspected cocaine have been seized off the waters of Lingig town in Surigao del Sur as authorities believe there could be more in the open seas within the Philippine territory. P/Col. Bernard Banac, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said a fisherman found the cocaine bricks, with an approximate street value of P100 million, floating in the waters of Lingig town. “The PNP lauds the fisherman for his commendable act. We continue to encourage the public to continue to immediately turn-over to the police suspected bricks of cocaine they may find floating or washed ashore in their village or fishing community,” said Banac. P/Brig. Gen. Gilbert Cruz, director of the Caraga regional police, said the 16 cocaine bricks were discovered on Tuesday by 25-year-old fisherman Jolan Pucot, who immediately turned over the illegal drugs to the local police. “The cocaine bricks are estimated to be 20 kilos and has a street value of P100 million,” said Cruz. The following day, Cruz said the same fisherman turned over two more bricks with an estimated value of P10 million. The official said the cocaine bricks will still be subjected to confirmatory test. Almost 250 cocaine bricks have already been found in various areas in Mindanao and Luzon since February this year, most of them in Surigao and Dinagat Island provinces. The cocaine bricks are believed to be for delivery to a drug syndicate operating in Australia but the transaction went awry either due to bad weather or that the transporters were forced to dump the contraband for fear of being intercepted. The same cocaine bricks found in the Philippines were the same as those recovered off the waters of Papua New Guinea last year. READ MORE: 16 cocaine bricks worth P106M found floating off Surigao del Sur