Ad led drug syndicate to Parañaque mansion

An advertisement in a newspaper posted by a real estate broker led a Chinese syndicate to the house owned by the parents of former cager Teddy Monasterio Jr.

In her statement to the Southern Police District (SPD), broker Chi Castro said arrested Chinese national Xuzi Bin Ong called her up after he saw the item in the classified ads section.

SPD director Chief Superintendent Jose Gutierrez Jr. said that after looking at several houses, Xuzi and his two other companions settled for Monasterios’ two-storey mansion on Hemlock Street, Executive Subdivision, Barangay Sun Valley.

Gutierrez added that Castro only asked for the Alien Certificate Residence (ACR) number of Xuzi, who used the alias Crispin So, before she did business with her. The real estate broker did not bother to ask her client to present at least his passport.

Castro showed Xuzi and his companions, a certain Mr. Lee and a certain Kuang Tian Wei, at least three houses before they came upon the Monasterio residence.

The Chinese nationals liked the house and even wanted to move in right away, Castro told the authorities.

Gutierrez said he needed Castro’s statement so that investigators could "piece together this puzzle." He also said that the statements of the real estate broker and those of the Monasterios would help police establish a trail back to the Chinese triad that was suspected to have operated the shabu laboratory.

"We’re getting near there," Gutierrez said, referring to the triad’s identity. Pahirapan lang talaga."

The SPD chief also clarified last Tuesday afternoon that contrary to the earlier information they gathered, Xuzi was a documented alien.

Police are now trying to establish the identity of Lee and Kuang, whom they believed are undocumented aliens.

Kuang signed the lease contracts, the first prepared by Castro and the one for the year 2002-2003 by the Monasterios.

Police said that the ACR used by Kuang in the lease contracts turned out to be owned by an American national.

Authorities were also able to track down Kuang’s bank located in Binondo, Manila. However, the Chinese national reportedly used the name "Nuang Tian Wei."

The Chinese national issued checks to the Monasterios as payments for the lease. The Monasterios said that all the checks were good.

Bank secrecy laws, however, prevented the police from getting further information from the Chinese nationals’ background.

"It is most likely that Kuang is a fictitious name that he used in the lease contract," Gutierrez said.

The SPD chief added that charges of drug manufacturing would be filed against the three Chinese nationals, the Monasterios, and Castro.

The Monasterios and Castro were automatically included in the charge sheet because of their involvement in the house lease.

"It would be up to the prosecutor during the preliminary investigation to determine who would be included in the case," Gutierrez explained.

He added that Xuzi, who initially gave information to investigators, now refuses to talk upon the advice of his lawyer.

Last Nov. 1, joint elements of the Parañaque City police and the Presidential Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) raided the shabu laboratory, which officials described as the biggest one discovered in Metro Manila.