Pinoy, 2 Taiwanese with 2-kg shabu held

Two Taiwanese and a Filipino were arrested for possession of two kilos of shabu with a street value of P4 million during a buy-bust operation Sunday in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco said the crime laboratory of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame confirmed that the seized shabu from Jacky Lim, 28, Robert Tan Cruz, 32, and Mario Caratao, 38, were of "high-grade" quality.

The three suspects were paraded yesterday by Superintendent Miguel Laurel, head of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO), before Velasco and Interior Secretary Joey Lina.

Senior Superintendent Gil Meneses, head of the intelligence division of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) dispatched Laurel to the parking lot of the SM North-EDSA in Quezon City Sunday morning after an informant managed to set a meeting with him and Caratao.

Lim and Caratao, who arrived on board a dark green Mitsubishi Galant with plate number TNT 938, immediately approached Laurel and demanded a look at the P1 million to be exchanged for the two kilos of shabu.

After making sure that the cash was genuine, Lim and Caratao asked Laurel to follow them to Barangay Parada in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Minutes later, Lim called up Cruz through his cellphone, said Meneses.

Cruz arrived on board a gray Mitsubishi L-200 pick-up (plate number UHT 720) and parked his vehicle behind Lim’s Galant.

Lim then took two plastic bags from Cruz’s L-200 and was about to hand it over to Laurel when the suspects’ arrest was announced. Lim and Caratao, of 15 Aguinaldo St., Bacolod City, were immediately handcuffed by the police.

Upon seeing his companions arrested, Cruz, who remained behind the wheel of the L-200 van drove off but was cornered after a brief chase, said Meneses.

Meneses said they also confiscated the suspects’ two vehicles and a weighing scale found in the back of the L-200 pick-up.

The three suspects refused to issue any statement when pressed by newsmen for their comment on their arrest. — Non Alquitran