Shabu chemicals found in Masbate-bound bus

MANILA, Philippines - Boxes of “used clothing” turned out to be several bottles of chemicals and a number of equipment needed for the manufacture of shabu bound for Masbate, an official said yesterday.

One of the bottles broke, spilling the chemical inside the bus and getting the attention of the passengers at the Araneta Center bus terminal, said Chief Superintendent Richard Albano, director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Albano said the contraband was discovered Thursday afternoon, with investigators now trying to track the source of the boxes and their intended recipient.

QCPD Station 7 commander Superintendent Ramon Pranada said the 32 boxes were transferred at past 1 p.m. from a Toyota Hilux. The supposed sender was a man named Jhony Lee and the boxes were supposed to be picked up by a man identified only as Gerry once they reach Masbate.

“The boxes were declared as P20,000 worth of used clothing to be brought to Masbate,” Pranada said.

Since they were supposed to be just used clothing, the boxes were apparently not handled with care when they were being put into the storage compartment of the Isarog Bus Transit unit, Pranada said.

Because of this, one of the bottles broke. Pranada said the spilled chemical prompted passengers to complain about the foul odor.

Pranada said employees at the terminal then called for police assistance, since people were scared that it could be a chemical that could be explosive.

When they opened the boxes, they found out that they contained around 400 bottles of “HCL acid, AU formate, ethanol absolute, methanol, tartaric acid, diphenylmethane sulphate, ethanol, ethanol absolute, formalin, powdered charcoal and formic acid.”

QCPD deputy director for operations Senior Superintendent Procopio Lipana said the boxes also contained equipment like beakers, graduated cylinders, hoses, flasks and electric burners.

“It was very apparent that the chemicals would be used for the manufacture of shabu because of these equipment,” he said.

According to Lipana, they will continue their investigation to determine the ones behind the attempted transport of the contraband.