Customs turns over shabu chemicals to PDEA

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday more than 600 kilograms of precursor chemicals that could have been used to produce at least P1 billion worth of shabu.

The shipment of banned chemicals, commercially known as toluene, was seized last month in Davao City as per the directive of Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez.        

Davao district collector Ed Magdaraog entrusted custody of the confiscated contraband from Taiwan to PDEA Region 11 Director Emerson Rosales. The shipment was misdeclared by the consignee, Jet’s 4 International, as general merchandise cargo containing glass tools, cabinet handles, hinges, rollers and wire mesh.

Customs operatives found the illegal substance hidden in 30 pails weighing 15 kilograms each and a big185-kilogram plastic drum.

 Toluene is listed in the Dangerous Drug Board Regulation No. 3, Series of 2003, as a controlled chemical. It is classified as a narcotic and a psychotropic substance under the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

Alvarez credited the discovery of the banned substance to good intelligence and monitoring work conducted by the Davao port collector’s office and the alertness of x-ray technicians assigned to the bureau’s x-ray inspection project headed by lawyer Lourdes Mangaoang.

Alvarez noted that the BOC also recently confiscated 32 drums of toluene in Manila, which remains as the biggest toluene haul in the bureau’s history. PDEA said the banned chemical could produce shabu with a street value of P6 billion.