15 cops probed for keeping 50 kilos of shabu seized in Cavite

Fifteen policemen, including two ranking officers, assigned to the Philippine National Police’s anti-narcotics unit are under investigation for failing to declare 50 kilos of shabu they seized a month ago in a raid.

Aside from dismissal from the service, the officers also face a possible death penalty under the new anti-narcotics law if found guilty of stealing the evidence, PNP officials said.

The officers, led by Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste — all of the PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Task Force — have been grounded pending the results of the investigation, said Director Eduardo Matillano, chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Also implicated was Chief Inspector Nelson Yabut, who is assigned to the CIDG.

"Transparency during operations is important. Those involved in the operations should not benefit from the fruits of the crime," a visibly disappointed Matillano said.

Laciste was not immediately available for comment. Yabut, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing.

Rogue police officers have been known to steal drugs seized in raids or arrests and later sell them.

An initial investigation showed that the 50 kilos of shabu — as big as a sack of rice — was slipped out of a beach resort in Tanza, Cavite, before it was raided in August, Matillano said.

Fifty kilos of shabu can fetch up to P100 million in the streets, police said.

Authorities said the mansion was owned by Chinese national Jackson Dy, alias of Li Ya Lan, alleged to be the third largest shabu trafficker in the Philippines.

He was arrested in July in Pasay City, on the same day police raided a seaside mansion in a former beach resort in Bacoor, also in Cavite, and discovered a large shabu factory.

It was, so far, the biggest busted by police, and could produce an estimated 30 to 40 kilos of shabu a day, authorities estimated.

Police also confiscated two jet skis, a yacht and a speedboat there believed used to deliver drugs.

Many crimes have been sparked by drugs, the most abused of which is shabu, authorities say. Much of the shabu sold in the Philippines comes from China, they say.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered a renewed crackdown on illegal drugs in June as part of a wider campaign against crime, which she said had been undermining the country’s economic recovery efforts.

In August last year, Mrs. Arroyo ordered a similar campaign as part of her campaign against crime, which she said had become a threat to the country’s economic recovery efforts.