131 kilos of shabu found in Tanza shabu laboratory

The raid at a shabu laboratory in Tanza, Cavite last July 25 yielded 131 kilos of shabu and 548.4 kilos of ephedrine, a chemical used in making the illegal drug, the crime laboratory of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

The crime lab’s findings belied reports that the raiding team failed to find finished shabu in Tanza because they allegedly "pocketed" some 50 kilos of the illegal drug.

Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, head of the Anti-Drug Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF), was elated by the crime lab’s findings and called for a speedy investigation of 15 of his men.

"We want the investigation speeded up because we badly want our top operatives back in the streets," he said.

Behind the shabu laboratory was Chinese national Li Lan Yan alias Jackson Dy who, along with his wife, Wang Li Na, and two others, Li Tian Hua alias Dy Keen Ya or Piya, and Yang Ching Yi, was earlier arrested by AID-SOTF operatives in Metro Manila.

The AID-SOTF forwarded to the PNP crime lab some 25 sacks and pails containing raw materials used to manufacture shabu.

Inspector Jupri Delantar, the crime lab’s forensic chemical officer, certified that five of the containers yielded a total of 131 kilos of shabu.

Three other containers contained 548 kilos of ephedrine, Delantar said in a three-page report.

No less than President Arroyo went to inspect the raided shabu laboratory in Barangay Capipisa in Tanza, and lauded the AID-SOTF operatives for their efforts.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina and PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. accompanied the President then.

However, the efforts of the AID-SOTF men were tainted after Director Eduardo Matillano of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) initiated an investigation into reports that the raiding team "pocketed" 50 kilos of shabu seized from the shabu laboratory.

The probe prompted Aglipay to "return to barracks" the 15 AID-SOTF operatives, two of them officers, who were involved in the raid.

The AID-SOTF men have expressed suspicions that Dy’s group was behind the smear campaign against them. They, however, welcomed the investigation.

For his part, Ebdane ordered the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management to conduct an impartial probe, while Lina directed the National Police Commission to conduct a separate investigation.