Cell phones of 5 Taiwanese nabbed in shabu raid deciphered

MANILA, Philippines - Police are analyzing the messages on the cellular phones of the five Taiwanese caught in a raid on a shabu laboratory in Parañaque City last Sunday to trace their local and international contacts in their drug peddling activities.

The Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force (AIDSOTF) sought the help of the Taiwan Economic Cooperation Office (TECO) in Manila as majority of the messages on the mobile phones seized from the suspects are in Taiwanese and Chinese characters.

Superintendent Ismael Fajardo Jr. of the AIDSOTF special operation unit 3 said one of the suspects, Tsai Horng, speaks the local dialect but the entries on his cell phone are also in Taiwanese and Chinese languages.

Tsai, along with Yu Kun Lin, Huang Yung Yung Chun, Cheng Yu Teng and Hsu Yun Pong were arrested at a two-story building they converted into a shabu laboratory on Santisima Trinidad street, San Antonio Valley 12.

Government raiders seized 25 kilos of shabu, assorted precursors and essential chemicals used in the manufacture of illegal drugs worth P150 million.

Tsai told investigators that a Chinese national was the one who negotiates with their local contacts regarding the sale of shabu.

The five suspects are still undergoing tactical interrogation by Fajardo and TECO officials at the AIDSOTF office in Camp Crame.

Earlier, Chief Inspector Roque Merdegia Jr., AIDSOTF legal officer, claimed that the five suspects denied they were engaged in the illegal drug trade, saying they are into bonsai plants business for export to Taiwan.

During their surveillance operation of the compound, Fajardo said they monitored at least four foreigners visiting the place. They are now being hunted by AIDSOTF agents.

All five suspects were charged Monday with illegal possession and manufacture of illegal drugs before the Parañaque City prosecutor’s office. Both cases are non- bailable.