ANTI-NARCOTICS operatives seized in a raid Tuesday evening, September 25, in a condominium unit in Pasay City over P500 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Aaron Aquino said at least 80 kilos of shabu with an estimated value of P544 million and chemicals and equipments believed to be used in the manufacturing of illegal drugs were seized from the condo unit.
PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said the discovered clandestine laboratory can produce at least 40 to 50 kilos of illegal drugs per week.
Aquino said the raid stemmed from the arrest of five Hong Kong nationals in separate drug busts conducted by the PDEA operatives since Monday, September 24.
On September 24, PDEA arrested during a drug bust in front of a hotel along Roxas Boulevard a 42-year-old suspect identified as Lin Hua Sen.
Recovered from Sen's vehicle were at least 20 kilograms of shabu amounting to at least P136 million.
Around 5 a.m. Tuesday, September 25, PDEA also arrested in a drug bust along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Paranaque City Lam King Wah, 35, and Wong Ka Lok, 38, who yielded two kilos of shabu worth P13.6 million, as well as 16 liters of chemicals believed to be used in making illegal drugs.
Among the chemicals seized were a mixture of acetone and methanol, which are both essential in the manufacturing of illegal drugs.
In another follow-up drug bust around 9 a.m. Tuesday, September 25, the anti-narcotics operatives nabbed two other Hong Kong nationals identified as Lam Wung Bun, 52, and Lam Ming Sun, 56.
Seized from the two were a kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million.
Aquino said the group is allegedly connected to the 14K or Hong Kong Triad drug syndicate, a group based in Hong Kong but is active internationally.
“These operations are a product of a four-month surveillance operations by PDEA. Matagal na sinusubaybayan ng PDEA ang mga ito (The PDEA has been monitoring them). We have noticed that they are bringing big luggage inside this condo unit. Our conclusion is that they are smuggling into our country crystallized shabu. They then repackage it here,” he said.
“I would also like to highlight that intelligence and information that led to these successful operations came from our international counterparts from the Hong Kong narcotics bureau and the office of the National Narcotics Control Commission of China. This is actually a product of our enhanced cooperation and collaboration,” he added.
Aquino said the PDEA, together with other law enforcement agencies, is conducting a follow-up investigation, particularly on how the group was able to bring in the country the illegal drugs and the chemicals used for its manufacturing.
"We are looking on at the angle that they are using backdoor entry in Mindanao or maybe yet into seaports or even airports," he said.
Carreon said from July 1, 2016, since the government launched its war on drugs to August 31, 2018, 13 clandestine laboratories have been dismantled in drug operations conducted by PDEA and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
In the same period, officials said law enforcement agencies like the PNP and PDEA conducted 108,059 anti-drug police operations that resulted in the arrest of 155,193 drug personalities while 4,854 were killed.
Of the arrested persons, 247 were elected officials, 271 government employees, and 58 uniformed personnel. (SunStar Philippines)