Chemist claims syndicate making low-grade shabu

An arrested Taiwanese national tagged as the chemist of the transnational drug syndicate headed by Jackson Dy claimed yesterday that the illegal drugs they manufactured at the shabu laboratory in Cavite were of low quality.

The chemist, Yang Ching Yi, 51, told The STAR through an interpreter that the shabu being circulated in the country are only 60 percent pure unlike in Taiwan where the illegal drugs are high-grade or at least 98 percent pure.

The Taiwanese embassy informed officials of the Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF) in Camp Crame that Yang served in their Army for three years. He had several brushes with the Taiwanese law for drug use.

Three officials of the Taiwan embassy, senior assistants Fu Shui-Tain and Hsuzh Pao-Shu and foreign liaison officer Samson Ong paid Yang a visit this week to determine his role and the participation of other Taiwanese nationals in the busted drug syndicate. Yang agreed to reveal what he knows about the syndicate to the three officials in their next visit.

When asked by The STAR yesterday, Yang denied he was a chemist.

He said a foreign national hired him to cook food for fellow foreigners working at the shabu laboratory in Sitio Capipisa in Tanza, Cavite. He said he was paid P90,000 in his three months of service as a cook.

But AID-SOTF officials pointed to Yang as a chemist of Dy’s drug syndicate.

The Taiwanese, the official said, tried but failed to perfect the process of making high-grade shabu in the laboratory.

"Hindi niya makuhang ma-perfect ang luto nya ng shabu kaya mababa ang quality ng kanyang produkto," the same official who asked not to be identified said.

According to the AID-SOTF official, the low quality of shabu being circulated in the country is the reason why a large number of users are experiencing paranoia.

"Kaya napuna nating maraming praning na adik dahil low grade ang shabu na kumakalat sa kalye sa ngayon. Mga isa hanggang dalawang oras lang ang tama at ang mga parokyano naman ay bili ng bili kaya’t malaki ang kinikita ng sindikato," he added.

When reached for comment, Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, head of the AID-SOTF said it does not matter whether the confiscated 361 kilos of shabu placed inside 16 styrofoam boxes were low or high quality.

"The important thing is that the drug syndicate was busted and its leadership thrown behind bars," said Aglipay.

He pointed out that the crime laboratory of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame certified that the recovered shabu placed inside tea bags were 99 percent pure. He said the result of other shabu seized was not yet known.

Superintendent Nelson Yabut, one of the team leaders of AID-SOTF claimed that they received reports that a large number of shabu recovered at Dy’s rented house at Unit B 105, Marina Bay Homes in Parañaque City were low quality.

"Those not found in tea bags were delivered to their recipients who returned the products because of their poor quality," said Yabut in an interview.

According to Yabut, the products found wrapped on tea bags were believed imported while the remaining shabu were produced in Cavite.

Dy, whose real name is Li Lan Yan, 41, and who speaks Tagalog, told The STAR that the confiscated shabu was placed in his house by a fellow foreigner.

"Hindi akin ‘yon. Ipinalagay lang ng kaibigan kong Intsik," he said. He said he has not even once used shabu. – Non Alquitran