10 drug suspects moved to Lipa City

LIPA City, Batangas — The ten suspected Taiwanese drug syndicate members nabbed in a laboratory here were transferred to the Lipa jail from Camp Crame, creating apprehensions to police and jail officers.

Supt. Antonio Atienza, Lipa City police chief told The STAR that the whole force of the Lipa police station would be drained of manpower with the transfer.

"Security will be our biggest problem here because BJMP does not have enough personnel to secure these big time Taiwanese suspects. Naturally, we will be obliged to give them security re-enforcement on a 24 hour basis," Atienza said.

Atienza also revealed that his men were loaded with other work and it’s hard for them to augment the extra manpower needed by the BJMP.

He also said this group is capable of doing terroristic act to stage a possible escape.

"If anything happens to the suspects, whether they escaped or killed, people will always think that we (police) are in cahoots with the syndicate," Atienza lamented.

The suspects, alleged member of a big time Hong Kong triad, were nabbed by police authorities in a shabu laboratory at Barangay Sto. Niño in Lipa City last April, bagging around 1,000 kilos of shabu amounting around P1 billion.

The suspects were later detained in CIDG detention cell in Camp Crame for custodial investigation.

Judge Vicente Landicho, Lipa City Regional Trial Court, Branch 12 presiding judge, issued a commitment order to the BJMP Lipa City to have the custody of the accused, identified as Benjamin Marcelo, Peter Santos Ong, Chuy Chuacoco, Tan Chin Hui, Tan Chin Bun, Lee Chang, Chang Sian, Ko Kiat, Wong Soi Kwan and Lin Chu. — Arnell Ozaeta