East Asia drug ring behind ‘shabu’ labs

MANILA, Philippines–A Chinese drug syndicate operating in East Asian countries has been tagged as being behind two suspected shabu laboratories raided by Philippine authorities in Pampanga early this month.

One of the syndicate’s cells is based in the Philippines, said an official of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (Aidsotf).

Chief Insp. Roque Merdegia, Aidsotf spokesman, said five Chinese nationals were arrested in the joint Sept. 12 operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at two warehouses in San Fernando, Pampanga, where 460 kilos of shabu, 14 liters of liquid shabu and 236 kilos of ephedrine, a shabu precursor, were recovered.

Arrested were Chinese nationals Jayson Lee, Willy Yap and Neil Tan, all from Xiamen, China, and Ying Huang, reportedly Lee’s wife, who is from Fujian.

“We suspect the group is affiliated with the Ah Sy drug syndicate based in China,” Merdegia said on Tuesday. He said the Ah Sy group operated in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam and as far as Mexico and Africa.

The PDEA calculated the value of the drugs at P2.38 billion.

PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. said 175 plastic bags containing 174 kilos of shabu worth P870 million were found in a Mitsubishi Montero at a rented warehouse in Greenville Subdivision.

An Isuzu closed aluminum van parked in the same warehouse yielded 20 plastic bags containing nine kilos of shabu and 233 kilos of ephedrine, valued at P49.4 million and P81.8 million, respectively.

Cacdac added that one of the warehouse’s rooms also yielded three kilos of ephedrine and 14 liters of liquid shabu.

At the second warehouse in Richtown subdivision, operatives found 276 plastic bags of shabu valued at P1,383,912,000.