MANILA, Philippines — Anti-narcotics operatives confiscated at least P163 million worth of high-grade shabu packed in Chinese tea bags from a 61-year-old woman and her son during a drug bust in Manila on Tuesday night.
Ruby Calabio and her son, Ian Akira, 26, were arrested for alleged possession of 24 kilos of shabu at their house in Barangay 778, Zone 85 in Sta. Ana.
Prior to their arrest, Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año said the Calabios allegedly sold five grams of shabu for P30,000 to a policeman who posed as a buyer.
Año said the sting in Manila stemmed from the apprehension of two suspected drug pushers, Luzviminda Basilio and Jocelyn Santos, in Barangay 81 in Caloocan City at around 5:45 p.m.
The Calabios were tagged as the alleged source of shabu by Basilio and Santos.
Police said Basilo and Santos, who were on the drug watchlist, yielded 20 grams of shabu.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said they were investigating if the drugs were smuggled into the country.
“We are not discounting the possibility that the drugs came from China because these were stuffed in tea bags with Chinese characters,” he said.
With the large shabu haul, Albayalde said they should not go easy in the government’s drug war.
Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, director of the National Capital Region Police Office, said they were coordinating with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and PNP Drug Enforcement Group to determine if Calabio and her son were members of a drug ring.
More drug suspects fall
At least 58 drug suspects were nabbed in separate operations in Metro Manila in the past two days.
Authorities said 17 suspected drug pushers and users were nabbed in Makati and Taguig; 21 in Quezon City; 13 in Caloocan, and seven in Muntinlupa, Las Piñas and Pasay.
Parojinog wants case transferred to NBI
Meanwhile, Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog has asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to transfer his drug case from the PNP to the National Bureau of Investigation.
Albayalde said this was the information he received from Taiwan.
He said it would be up to the DOJ to decide on Parojinog’s request.
Parojinog, who is facing drug charges in the country, is being held in Taiwan for illegal entry. – With Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Robertzon Ramirez, Romina Cabrera, Ghio Ong