Shabu 11 case Prosecution presents another witness

The prosecution in the mega shabu laboratory case in Mandaue City presented another witness in court yesterday.

P/Supt. Adzhar Albani corroborated the earlier testimonies of another prosecution witness, Chief Inspector Madzgani Muksan Mukaram, the supervisor of the team that made the surveillance prior to the raid of the laboratory on September 24, 2004.

Mukaram was also the one who conducted surveillance for three weeks of the four warehouses allegedly used to manufacture shabu.

Mukaram then testified that one of the suspects, Mortezza Tamadoni, had purchased 95 pails of acetone from a drugstore in Cebu City. Acetone is among the ingredients used in manufacturing shabu.

Mukaram's testimony was corroborated by Albani, who had applied for the search warrant prior to the raid on the shabu laboratory. Mukaram had earlier presented before the court the video on the surveillance of the warehouses on #20 Lopez Jaena Street, Cebu City, and in barangays Pakna-an, Looc and Umapad in Mandaue City.

The video shown equipment such as hydrogenator, scrubber, freezers, containers of acetone, and other equipment used in manufacturing shabu inside the Umapad laboratory, which was said to be the biggest in Southeast Asia.

Seized during the raid were 675 kilos of shabu worth P1.5 billion and chemicals enough to produce 15 tons more of the banned substance.

Eleven people, mostly foreigners, were arrested in the raid. Their alleged financier, Calvin Tan, is currently detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center following his arrest in Hong Kong.

Warehouse owners Andy Ng and Richard Ong were also indicted for allegedly allowing the suspects to use their building for such illegal activity. The two, however, gained temporary freedom after posting bail. - Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon