P244.8 million shabu seized in Cavite raid

MANILA, Philippines — Personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) recovered 36 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P244.8 million from a house at an upscale subdivision in Dasmarinas, Cavite yesterday.

PDEA director general Aaron Aquino supervised the raid on a two-story house in Barangay Paliparan 1 at around 5 p.m.

Aquino believes the drugs were being readied for transport for sale on the streets of Metro Manila and adjacent provinces.

“This is a follow-up operation related to the warehouse in Tanza,” he said in a phone interview.

Aquino was referring to the drug raid on Feb. 3 that left two Chinese men dead and led to the recovery of 274 kilos of shabu valued at P1.9 billion.

Yesterday’s raid was based on information provided by Patrick Bankee, 44, and Alexander Jun Wah Ting Lee, 40, who were arrested in a drug sting in Barangay Talayan, Quezon City at around 2 a.m. also yesterday.

Around two kilos of shabu valued at P13.6 million, assorted bank cards and four cell phones were recovered from the suspects.

Aquino said the two Chinese men were among three persons of interest in the raid in Tanza.

“The suspects rented the house for more than three years... we believe they have been conducting their activities during the same period,” Aquino said.

He said residents of the subdivision were “totally unaware that an  an illegal activity of this magnitude had been happening in their place.”