7 Chinese arrested in Tarlac shabu lab raid

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines – Seven Chinese were arrested following a raid on a shabu laboratory in Camiling, Tarlac on Thursday.

Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta, Police Regional Office-3 director, in a text message to The STAR, said the laboratory on Bonifacio street yielded sophisticated equipment and an undetermined amount of methamphetamine hydrochloride that could be worth more than P2 billion.

Quoting a report of Eric Isidoro of the anti-illegal drug unit of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Petrasanta said the shabu laboratory was in a warehouse of the Camiling Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

The laboratory is capable of producing up to 100 kilos of shabu a day, police said.

“This is the first time we have seen this kind of equipment. They do not emit odor or smoke so people outside  the compound will not suspect what’s really going on inside,” Isidoro said.

Local residents said the Chinese who rented the warehouse told them that they would put up a plastic factory that will be operational by January next year.

The NBI was set to file charges against the six suspects yesterday. 

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima lauded the NBI for the raid of what is believed to be the biggest shabu laboratory in the country.

“We hope it will deal a big blow to the illegal drug industry in the country...we really need to intensify our efforts to fight illegal drugs,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.

De Lima, whose department has administrative supervision over the NBI, said she expects the proliferation of the illegal drug trade as elections approach, citing the culture of “narco-politics” in the country. – With Edu Punay, Aie Balagtas See