2 Chinese nabbed in Manila drug busts

MANILA, Philippines - Two Chinese were arrested in separate drug busts in Manila, officials said yesterday.

Yu Ming Li, alias “Mr. Co” and “Mr. Lee,” 39, was arrested along Roxas Boulevard in the vicinity of Rizal Park after allegedly selling a kilo of shabu to an undercover police officer, according to Senior Superintendent Napoleon Taas, chief of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF).

Yu is being interrogated in the AIDSOTF office at Camp Crame, Taas said.

He said an informant walked into the office of Superintendent Ismael Fajardo, chief of the Special Operating Unit last week and reported that Yu is behind the distribution of shabu not only in Metro Manila but also in nearby regions.

After five days of surveillance, Fajardo asked the informant to negotiate the purchase of a kilo of shabu from Yu for P2.2 million.

Taas said Yu showed up along Roxas Boulevard near the Rizal Monument in his Honda Civic at around 2 p.m. yesterday. He tried to escape after sensing the presence of policemen but was cornered before he could drive off.

Yu also yielded two cell phones and P2,920 cash and several documents.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said that a kilo of shabu is now sold at P8 million in the streets.

“We are now questioning him (Yu) where he gets his shabu supply and who are his customers in the country,” said Taas.

Meanwhile, the PDEA said its agents arrested Qiong Yao Cai, alias Lin, 46, for allegedly selling 25 grams of shabu to an undercover agent at her unit at the Zen Towers in Ermita on March 15.

Qiong and the agent agreed to meet at her unit and she was nabbed after she handed over a small plastic bag of shabu to the agent, PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said.

The agents who arrested her are with the PDEA’s National Capital Region office under director Wilkins Villanueva.

She is currently detained at the PDEA custodial facility in Quezon City. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Reinir Padua