Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, head of the police Anti-Drug Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF), ordered yesterday a nationwide manhunt against Benito Sy and a cohort, tagged as the "contacts" of the China-based drug syndicates in the country.
In his directive to all regional AID-SOTF, especially those based in Mindanao, Aglipay called for constant monitoring of seaports, airports and the coastlines where Sy, considered a big fish and his accomplice, a certain Jackson Ty, could use to evade pursuing lawmen.
In Metro Manila, Aglipay tasked Superintendents Federico Laciste Jr. and Nelson Yabut to scour the metropolis, particularly the suspected businesses and "fronts" being used by Sy and Ty in their illegal activities.
"I strongly believe that Sy and his accomplice are still here in Metro Manila because it would be very hard for them to hide in the provinces," Aglipay said in an interview. "We will get them sooner or later."
He ordered the distribution of photos of Sy and Ty to the regional AID-SOTF for easy identification of the two suspects.
Sy, known as Benito Sze in the Chinese community, was identified as the one who negotiated for the lease of the shabu laboratories in Cavite, Las Pinas City, Parañaque City, and Quezon City. While Ty’s name surfaced in the Quezon City shabu lab.
Laciste said Sy was last sighted in Cavite, days prior to the raid on the shabu laboratory in Barangay Cabangaan last June 12.
Witnesses described him as 50 to 60 years-old, of medium built, with a slightly protruding stomach, 5’4" in height, sporting a crew-cut and a Charlie Chaplin-style moustache. They said he is also wearing glasses.
Laciste said they have no available description of Ty.
Reports reaching Aglipay revealed that Sy played a key role in the operations of the 13 transnational drug syndicates in the country, supplying them with equipment and raw materials used to manufacture shabu.
In his report to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Anselmo Avenido, Aglipay said three of the transnational drug syndicates have been neutralized with the recent raids on the four shabu laboratories in Cavite, Las Piñas, Quezon City and Metro Manila.
A police investigator claimed that Sy went into the fishing business in the 1980s. "He used to deliver freshly-caught fish to Taiwan. We believe he used this in his illegal drug business," the police investigator told The Star.
When the fishing business folded up, Sy reportedly went into scrap metal and the importation of mini-trucks, which he also could have used as "fronts" in the purchase of equipment and raw materials used to manufacture shabu.