Malabon shabu lab raided

MANILA, Philippines - Police officers and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives raided Friday afternoon kitchen-type drug laboratory in Malabon City that could produce at least P50 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu a day.

A two-story apartment on Sisa street in Barangay Acacia that housed the clandestine laboratory is being rented by Qingjian Shi, who was arrested along with Benson Chua during a drug bust in Pasig City Thursday night. The two Chinese men, said to be members of a big-time drug syndicate, were caught selling 400 grams of shabu for P1.5 million to an undercover agent, said Eastern Police District (EPD) intelligence chief Superintendent Remus Medina.

“The Malabon lab raid is an offshoot of the two Chinese men’s arrest,” Medina told The STAR yesterday.

Medina said the EPD policemen, led by Senior Superintendent Antonio Gumiran, raided the apartment at around 3 p.m., armed with a search warrant issued by a local judge. The lawmen forced open a steel door leading to the apartment. No one was home, but the raiding team found “hundreds of bottles of chemicals and instruments used in manufacturing shabu” as well as two kilos of the finished product, he said.

PDEA director general Jose Gutierrez Jr. said among the chemicals seized are ephedrine, thiamine, hydrochloric acid, acetone, toluene and red phosphorus. A washing machine and dryer, a refrigerator, rice cooker, and other home appliances – all apparently used to manufacture shabu – were also found in the house.

“Based on the equipment and chemicals found in the apartment, what we found was a kitchen-type laboratory that has the capacity to produce five to 10 kilos of shabu worth P50 million in the streets,” he said.

Medina said that the apartment “looks very ordinary” and neighbors – including the barangay chairman – were unaware of the apartment’s true function.

“What is unusual for the apartment was that its (door) was covered with iron sheets and is equipped with high-powered air-conditioning system, for in fact it is already old,” he said.

Medina said they are still trying to find the location of another shabu laboratory.

Medina said that drug syndicates now prefer kitchen-type laboratories that can be easily dismantled and moved.

Sources said Qingjian rented the apartment from a village official’s relative three months ago for P10,000 a month. They said Sisa street is a known haven of drug pushers in Malabon and most of their clients arrive in cars or motorcycles. – With Reinir Padua