Chinese embassy to probe 5 nabbed in Sta. Ana drug raid

MANILA, Philippines - The Chinese embassy has promised full cooperation in the investigation conducted by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) against its five nationals caught with 20 kilos of shabu during a raid in Sta. Ana, Manila last week.

Ben Wang, police attaché of the Chinese embassy, assured NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales that they will conduct a background investigation of the five suspects to determine whether they have derogatory records in their homeland.

“We allowed Wang to talk with the suspects for several hours for him to extract necessary information that would help us to neutralize other members of the drug syndicate the five Chinese nationals are connected,” Rosales said in an interview.

Initially, Wang told Rosales that two of the suspects arrived in the country two months ago, while the others had been staying in the Philippines for the past several years, including one who was born in Hong Kong.

During a briefing with Wang, the five Chinese nationals claimed they hold tourist visas.

Ming Yuan Yuet, 40; Danny Tan, 30; Aga Co, 33; Eugene Co, 32, and Michelle Lee, 24, all natives of China, were arrested last Thursday by a police team headed by Superintendent Leo Francisco, head of the NCRPO’s regional police intelligence and operations unit (RPIOU) during a raid on a condominium unit in Manila.

They yielded 20 kilos of shabu worth P100 million and raw materials and equipment used to manufacture shabu.

Rosales earlier said he believes that one of the five arrested suspects is a chemist but Wang failed to confirm this during his four-hour conversation with them at the RPIOU detention center.

Wang said he strongly suspects that the five Chinese nationals are using fictitious names. He took their pictures so “we could trace and determine their true identity back home.”

According to Wang, he would forward to Francisco the outcome of his own investigation in China regarding the background of the suspects.

“He (Wang) wanted to strengthen our coordination so that we could work closely in all cases we are handling involving Chinese nationals,” Francisco said.

Wang also promised to trace the seized shipment with Chinese characters on them to determine whether they really came from China.

The NCRPO filed possession of dangerous drugs, equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia before the Manila Prosecutor’s Office.