Shabu lab case trial: Umapad brgy captain says he wasn't aware lab existed

The barangay captain of Umapad, Mandaue City yesterday testified in court that he never knew beforehand that a shabu laboratory existed in his barangay.

Barangay captain Zaldy Lumapas, grilled for two hours by the defense counsels during the resumption of the celebrated shabu laboratory trial, said he was even shocked upon hearing about it over radio news reports on September 24, 2004 when the it was raided.

Lumapas said his tanods have oftentimes been monitoring and conducting roving patrols in the area and he had not received any reports of unusual odors emanating from the site or uncanny activities inside the warehouse where the laboratory was located.

It was only on September 26, two days after the raid, that he got inside the laboratory where he also saw the people allegedly involved in the operations, together with the paraphernalia and white crystalline powder, later found as shabu.

The barangay chief further testified that he toured the area and he was present at the time authorities of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency conducted an inventory of confiscated items and equipment, as well as chemicals. He signed the inventory, Lumapas admitted.

The prosecution panel presented Lumapas to establish aggravating circumstances over the shabu manufacturing charges filed against all the accused, mostly foreigners, including alleged drug financier Calvin Tan and warehouse owners Richard Ong and Andy Ng.

One of the aggravating circumstances is the location of the laboratory that Lumapas said was just 15 kilometers away from a residential area called Purok Tambis.

The raid on the warehouse yielded about 675 kilograms of shabu valued at P1.3 billion, shabu precursor chemicals worth some P15 billion, and vital laboratory equipment.

The shabu laboratory was deemed the biggest found and raided so far in Southeast Asia. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan