Cops to question broker over shabu lab

MANILA, Philippines - Police will invite a customs broker for questioning to determine his role in the operation of a Parañaque shabu laboratory that had been raided last Sunday, an official said yesterday.

Superintendent Ismael Fajardo Jr. of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) said David Du is allegedly the broker of precursors and essential chemicals seized at laboratory and the one who rented the house from its owner.

“The contract for the rent of the house was in the name of Du. We also learned that he owns the brokerage firm behind the entry of the seized chemicals in the country,” Fajardo said.

He said one of the vehicles of Du’s brokerage firm was monitored entering the compound located along Santisima Trinidad street in San Antonio Valley 12 during the AIDSOTF’s surveillance operation.

Five Taiwanese – Tsai Horng, Yu Kun Lin, Huang Yung Yung Chun, Cheng Yu Teng, and Hsu Yun Pong – were arrested and P150 million worth of high-grade shabu and chemicals were confiscated during Sunday’s raid.

Fajardo said the seized chemicals were consigned to Tsai, who speaks Filipino and been in and out of the country.

Chief Inspector Roque Merdegia Jr., AIDSOTF legal officer, said they are coordinating with the Bureau of Customs to pin down Du and determine how the chemicals were shipped into the country.

With the help of the Taiwan Economic Cooperation Office, AIDSOTF agents are examining the five cell phones confiscated from the suspects to determine their local and international contacts, Merdegia said.

AIDSOTF agents are also on the trail of four other foreigners who were spotted visiting the compound prior to the raid.