PNP to question owner of shabu lab condo

MANILA, Philippines – The owner of the unit where Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino and Yan Yi Shuo were arrested last week has been invited by the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drug Group (PNP-AIDG) to “shed light” on the case, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Arturo Cacdac Jr. said yesterday.

The affidavits of two security guards at Celadon Residences confirmed that the suspects were given direct permission by the owner, identified as “May Co,” to enter her unit, which was used as a clandestine laboratory for shabu manufacturing, he said.

The owner of the vehicle used by Yan to enter the premises will also be summoned by the PNP-AIDG, Cacdac said. The car, a Toyota Camry with plate number XEV-665, is registered under a certain Hydee Uy. 

 “Tomorrow, the owner of the unit and the owner of the vehicle will be invited by the PNP-AIDG to shed light on the matter, because the owner herself was the one who called the guard and instructed them to allow the two to enter the unit where we recovered 76 kilos of shabu,” Cacdac said.

Co could face conspiracy charges if she cannot explain to the police the circumstances regarding her involvement in the case tomorrow.

“How can a Chinese drug lord allow somebody he does not know to enter the house? May Co will have to explain the circumstances. If she fails to explain her side, we will also charge her with conspiracy to manufacture illegal drugs,” he said.

According to the affidavit, Co called one of the guards at around 9:20 p.m. on Jan. 20 to allow her visitors arriving in a Toyota Camry to her unit.

The car arrived an hour later, driven by Shuo, with a male passenger wearing a green t-shirt. Four empty transparent plastic containers were also found in the trunk of the car.

A few hours after returning to the Celadon Residences later that night, Marcelino and Shuo were arrested by police and PDEA operatives.

The former PDEA official was found sitting on a couch, while Shuo was on the second floor of the unit when the agents arrived. The PDEA agents seized around 76 kilos of shabu, with a street value of over P383 million.

The security guards recalled that earlier that day, at around 1 a.m. on Jan. 20, a silver car driven by a Chinese-looking man – identified later as Shuo – arrived at the main gate of the Celadon Residences to go to House No. 15.

The guards did not allow the driver as he did not have permission of the unit tenant.

Cacdac said this testimony of the two security guards contradicts Marcelino’s statement that he was just conducting casing and surveillance of the clandestine laboratory.

Still, it remains unclear how Marcelino and Shuo secured a key to the unit, admitted Cacdac.