10 Chinese caught with P2-B shabu

LIPA CITY – Police arrested yesterday 10 Chinese nationals, including an alleged friend of former Pre-sident Joseph Estrada, in a raid on a suspected illegal laboratory here in what is believed to be the country’s biggest drug bust.

Seized from a warehouse in Barangay Sto. Niño were approximately 1,000 kilos of shabu with a street value of P2 billion.

Lipa police chief Superintendent Antonio Atienza identified the owner of the warehouse, which was converted into a laboratory, as Benjamin Marcelo, 35, a Chinese businessman from Binondo, Manila who is said to be Estrada’s friend.

Marcelo, also known as Boy Marcial, was arrested along with nine Chinese workers whose ages range from 18 to 25 years old. They were caught in the act of packing the illegal drug and loading them into a van.

Atienza, who led the raiding team, said they were tipped off by barangay chairman Eleno Meo, who had reported offensive smelling smoke coming from Marcelo’s property. The warehouse is situated in a five-hectare farm some 1,000 meters away from a rural road.

The police chief said they had been conducting month-long surveillance on the Chinese group. He said the suspects have been in the area for some seven months now and they had made it appear that the warehouse was used for the manufacture of plastics and paints.

Police confiscated 34 bags of shabu weighing some 300 kilos and some 700 kilos of raw materials. They discovered 30 containers, 19 drums of sodium hydroxide, 18 drums of iodine, 51 bottles of distilled water, gas ranges, LPG tanks, gloves and other paraphernalia used in the manufacture of the illegal drug.

Also seized were a Mitsubishi Canter delivery van with license plates UGP 289, a Mitsubishi car with license plates UME 555 and a Toyota Revo with license plates WLS 774.

Police said the syndicate used these vehicles in delivering the illegal drug to clients in Batangas City, Laguna, Quezon and Metro Manila.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina were on hand to personally supervise the operation.

Lina presided over a closed-door conference at Camp Vicente Lim with the PNP chief, Southern Tagalog police director Chief Superintendent Domingo Reyes, local police officials and Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos.

"This is a major breakthrough in the renewed campaign of the government to stamp out illegal drugs in the country," Lina said.

Santos thanked the involvement of the community in helping police arrest the suspects.

"This is a perfect example of the community working with the government. We would have never known about the illegal activities without their valuable information," she said. – Rene Alviar, Arnell Ozaeta, Cecille Suerte Felipe