Cops seize P120-million 'Christmas season' shabu in Quezon City raid

MANILA, Philippines - Police raided yesterday a condominium unit in Quezon City and confiscated at least 24 kilos of high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu with an estimated street value of P120 million.

Deputy Director General Raul Bacalzo, deputy chief for operation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and concurrent head of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), said the seized shabu could be intended for distribution in Metro Manila and other parts of the country during the Christmas season.

“We are fortunate to seized the shabu shipment in time before it could be distributed in the streets,” said Bacalzo as he congratulated the AIDSOTF operatives who took part in the operation.

Superintendent Roque Merdegia, AIDSOTF legal officer, said they raided the unit rented by a certain Joshua Tan at Trafalgar Mansion in Barangay Loyola Heights at about 3 p.m. yesterday after they were tipped off about a big shipment being kept there.

Merdegia said they were armed with a search warrant issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Fernando Sagun Jr.

The informant led Merdegia and his men to an open space under the stairs leading to the second floor where two boxes were kept. The boxes each contained six plastic packs of shabu. The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) estimated the street value of a kilo of shabu at P5 million.

According to Merdegia, Tan was not at the condo unit during the raid. He said Trafalgar Mansion security guards reported that Chinese nationals frequented Tan’s unit during the wee hours, and appeared to be carrying packages from the building.

He said the shabu shipment apparently came from abroad because of the packing tape used on the boxes and other pieces of evidence.

“The shabu shipment is being spirited into the country. And we are now investigating how the syndicate managed to sneak their illegal shipment into our territory,” Merdegia said.

The owner of the condo unit claimed that Tan has been renting the place for P35,000 a month for more than a year.