P12 billion shabu seized in Quezon town

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines – An estimated P12-billion worth of shabu, said to be pulled from the sea, was seized by authorities in Quezon province early yesterday.

Cops from the Infanta municipal police and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) blocked three white Nissan vans – with plate numbers FAD 1099, ACA 5576 and AJA 7779 – at their checkpoint along National Highway in Barangay Comon at 4 a.m., according to an initial report from the Quezon provincial police.

Inside the vans were 10 men and sacks containing alleged high-value shabu that were packed in blocks and wrapped in green sealed plastic bags with Chinese markings.

NBI-TFAID’s deputy chief and Supervising Agent Omar Orille revealed the shabu packs weighed a total of 1.5 metric tons, with an estimated value of P12 billion.

Lawyer Jonathan Galicia, head of the NBI’s Task Force against Illegal Drugs (TFAID), said NBI agents were able to mark more than 600 packs of Chinese tea containing alleged blocks of shabu.

The 10 suspects sailed from Alabat Island and allegedly retrieved the bulk of the illegal drugs, sunk at sea between the islands of Polilio and Balesin. They sailed further towards Infanta and loaded the shabu into the three vans, Orille added.

The scheme prompted the NBI and the Infanta municipal police to set up checkpoints resulting in the “interdiction” of the suspects, he added.

Orille said the scheme could be compared to the dropping of blocks of cocaine into the sea. The NBI has yet to find out if the shabu came from Thailand or China.

He added the suspects used gadgets like GPS (global positioning system) devices and satellite phones to locate the illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, officials from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine National Police and Department of Tourism (DOT) signed a memorandum of agreement on Monday
to prevent the entry of illegal drugs in areas visited by tourists and travelers. –  Michelle Zoleta, Emmanuel Tupas