Chinese man nabbed for shabu in playing card case

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese national was arrested by intelligence operatives of the Manila Police District reportedly while in possession of shabu in a playing card case in Binondo, Manila the other day.

The arrest of Li Xiaozu, 36, from Fujian, China, and a resident of C.M. Recto Avenue in Sta. Cruz, Manila, was “by chance” as Manila policemen were on patrol in Binondo, according to intelligence chief Ernesto Fojas Jr.

Prior to Li’s arrest, District Police Intelligence and Operations Unit head Chief Inspector Fernando Opelanio and his men were on board a private vehicle on a surveillance mission when they chanced upon two men “acting suspiciously” along Dasmariñas street in Binondo.

The lawmen approached, and one of the men ran away. The other, later identified as Li, was prevented from throwing away a case of playing cards.

When police opened the case, it yielded a plastic sachet of white crystalline substance later identified by the MPD crime laboratory as shabu, weighing some 10 grams.

Li, who opted to remain silent, was charged with possession of illegal drugs before inquest fiscal Dinah Kyrille Pacquing, according to Fojas.