|
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Millions worth of 'shabu' dumped in vacant lot
By Cheng Ordoņez
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Authorities unearthed Wednesday three big boxes containing crystalline substances believed to be used in making shabu and some laboratory glass containers in a vacant lot in Marcos Drive, Putik village, in Zamboanga City.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officials who rushed to the area said the chemicals found Wednesday morning just need one more "processing" and will be converted to shabu worth P3 million per kilo.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
The suspected chemicals were disposed by still unidentified persons either last Sunday or Monday, according to Rudy Lang, a resident who first discovered the boxes of chemicals.
Lang said he did not know the contents of the boxes were shabu. He thought they were ashes used for cleaning kitchenware. But later, he reported what he discovered to authorities when children started playing with it, scattering the white substance in the vacant lot.
City Mayor Celso Lobregat said the substances disposed in Putik have connections with the raids in shabu laboratories in the villages of Lamisahan and Tetuan, also in Zamboanga City last month.
"The perpetrators are panicking, and in their desire to immediately rid their place with these (chemicals), they just dumped it here in this vacant lot," Lobregat said.
One of the boxes has the inscription of a purported addressee name of a certain Won Hong Kwong. The address is at 5th Floor, 5C Jose Hulo Bldg., Tomas Claudio Street, Zamboanga City.
Lobregat said the same name and address was found in other boxes found in earlier raids, which netted three Filipino workers and a Chinese national alleged to be the shabu laboratory caretaker identified as Andy Yang, who was arrested in Cebu City.
The authorities in Cebu and Manila are still conducting investigations to locate several other shabu laboratories. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (March 6, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
200 shanties razed in Talisay City