Shabu 11 case: Warehouse owner set to be arraigned

Mandaue City Regional Trial Court Branch 28 judge Marilyn Yap has scheduled the arraignment of Andy Ng, whose warehouse in barangay Umapad was used as a clandestine shabu laboratory, on February 23.

Ng is currently out on bail after paying P1.5 million.

Ng and fellow warehouse owner Richard Ong were both implicated in the Mandaue shabu laboratory case but both have vehemently denied their participation.

Of the fourteen suspects including alleged financier Calvin Tan, only Ng has not yet been arraigned due to an order from the Court of Appeals last February 23, 2005 not to proceed with his arraignment. The temporary restraining order, good for 60 days, also suspended proceedings of the case against him.

Last September 2004 police raided the warehouse in barangay Umapad, Mandaue City, and arrested 11 people for violating Section 8, Article II of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The said shabu laboratory was reportedly the biggest in Southeast Asia.

Seized in the raid were over 600 kilos of shabu worth P1.5 billion and enough chemicals to produce 15 tons more of the banned substance. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan