PDEA nabs alleged Binondo drug financier

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese national, the alleged financier of a big-time drug syndicate based in Binondo, was arrested by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday.

Chanxin Wang is reportedly “in charge of the money laundering activities of the Binondo Chinese Drug Group, replacing Mark Tan, believed to be the group’s kingpin, who himself was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in July 2012,” PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said in a statement.

PDEA-National Capital Region agents served Wang an arrest warrant for selling dangerous drugs as he was about to attend a preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice building on money laundering charges, he said.

Cacdac cited reports that the group allegedly uses bank accounts to receive payments prior to delivering illegal drugs.

According to Cacdac, Wang eluded arrest during a drug bust conducted by PDEA agents along Timog Avenue on Feb. 2, 2012. The operation resulted in the arrest of Clarence Chen Go and the confiscation of more than two kilos of shabu.