Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya said three Chinese nationals in two vans were arrested at a roadblock near the Maculcul Bridge in Barangay Alusiis here shortly after dawn.
The suspects were identified as Cai Hong Za alias Edwin Hong, 35; Henry Tan alias Eddie Tan, 32; and William Chua alias William Cheng, 36. The three are believed to be members of an international drug syndicate, part of the Hong Kong triads or criminal gangs operating in the Philippines.
Two Toyota Revo vans with license plates WRP-384 and PRP-356 were on their way to Metro Manila when intercepted by agents of the Philippine National Police Narcotics Group, PNP Maritime Group and the Zambales PNP. A third vehicle was able to breach the roadblock and escape.
"The arrest of the suspects and seizure of their load were the result of months of intelligence and surveillance work that involved the Narcotics Group, local police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy," Berroya said.
Zambales Gov. Vicente Magsaysay ordered all possible exit points in the province sealed off.
"We will make sure that those involved in these big-time drug activities in this province be prosecuted and face the full force of the law," Magsaysay said.
Nargroup Director Chief Superintendent Efren Fernandez, who formally assumed the post yesterday, failed to attend a turnover ceremony at Camp Crame to supervise the anti-drug operation.
Police brought the seized drugs to the PNP Crime Laboratory at Camp Crame for safekeeping while the three suspects were placed under interrogation.
Yesterday’s seizure was the biggest in the country since Oct. 14 when police caught Panulukan, Quezon Mayor Ronnie Mitra and a Chinese national transporting more than 500 kilos of shabu aboard a van and an ambulance in that province.
The Narcotics Group believes a "mother ship" from China dropped off the shabu into the motorized bancas, which took the cargo to a beach and transferred it to the vans.
Intelligence reports initially revealed that the shipment came from the Pangasinan area and then transported to Botolan, Zambales. Police sources said later the shabu was unloaded on the shores of Masinloc.
Police Community Relations Director Thompson Lantion said the coastline of Zambales and provinces in Cagayan have become the favorite drop-off points of foreign nationals involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Magsaysay, however, refuted reports that the shores Zambales were being used as a drop-off point for illegal drugs being sold in Metro Manila.
"The illegal drugs trade is something we will not tolerate in our province," he said. – With Ric Sapnu, Ding Cervantes, Christina Mendez