Drugbusters strike in QC

A Chinese national, who was arrested for selling a kilo of shabu worth P2.5 million, led police to a townhouse being used as a drug warehouse in Quezon City last Monday, resulting in the seizure of a truckload of raw materials and shabu precursors worth P1.6 billion.

Chief drugbuster Deputy Director General Ricardo De Leon said suspect Hung Ching Wei, alias Wally Ang and Wally Chua, spilled the beans on the illegal operation of a drug syndicate allegedly headed by his elder brother.

"Hung felt he was left out in the cold so he decided to cooperate in our investigations and get even with his elder brother," said de Leon who heads the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF) of the Philippine National Police. "We are now conducting a follow-up operation to permanently neutralize the drug syndicate."

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. commended De Leon and Chief Superintendent Ricardo Dapat, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), for a job well done.

Belmonte vowed to fully support De Leon’s anti-drug campaign, especially his "Pamilya ko Ayaw sa Droga" project that was launched recently in Quezon City.

Dapat said the arrest of Hung was a result of a 20-day surveillance by a team led by Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, chief of the Anti-Transnational Crime Division (ATCD) of the CIDG.

"We shadowed Hung for 20 days and struck when we felt that we had gathered sufficient evidence to nail him," said Dapat, noting that they were being guided by an informant.

Hung was arrested at 11 p.m. last June 4 in front of the JFW Merchandize building located on Luzon Avenue in Old Balara after he handed over a kilo of shabu to Senior Inspector Crisle Cainong, who posed as a buyer.

Hung initially refused to talk following his arrest.

However, he started revealing all to Sosa and Senior Superintendent Rogelio Damazo, AID-SOTF intelligence chief, after he felt that his elder brother, Ben Ang, alias Ben Chua, has left him on his own.

Ang heads a drug syndicate operating not only in Metro Manila, but in other parts of the country, Damazo claimed.

He immediately filed a search warrant with Judge Fatima Gonzales Asdala and stormed the suspected warehouse located at Unit 13 of the Roma Rosa Townhouses also along Luzon Avenue at 7 p.m. last Monday.

De Leon said the raid was conducted in the presence of Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista, Central Police District (CPD) director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan and barangay officials.

The AID-SOTF chief said Ang was not around when the raiders came.

The raiders confiscated 40 sacks and 27 boxes of white crystalline substance believed to be precursors and essential chemicals used for the manufacture of shabu with an estimated street value of P1.6 billion.

The seized chemicals were immediately turned over to the CPD Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) for thorough examination.

AID-SOTF, CIDG and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have launched a massive manhunt against Ang.

"Our men are now in the field conducting massive follow-up operations based on the details provided us by Hung," said De Leon.

Hung is currently detained at CIDG headquarters in Camp Crame. Charges of illegal possession and transport of illegal drugs are being readied against him. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe