Taiwanese trio ran ‘shabu’ labs in Las Piñas, Parañaque

THE ‘SHABU’ house at Philamlife Village, Pamplona Dos, Las Piñas, apparently has a counterpart at BF Homes, Parañaque. The clandestine drug labs found inside the two homes were allegedly run by three Taiwanese men arrested Tuesday. Photos by Jan Escosio, Radyo Inquirer

Three Taiwanese nationals were arrested Tuesday night as the police raided two “shabu” laboratories in Las Piñas and Parañaque cities.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said a total of 300 kilos of shabu worth P1.5 billion were recovered at the two homes used for clandestine manufacturing.

At around 6:30 p.m., a joint team from PDEA and the Las Piñas police found Shih-ming Tsai and Kuo-chuan Cheng in a bungalow in Philamlife Village, Barangay Pamplona Dos.

About an hour later, in Parañaque, antinarcotics agents arrested Chun-ming Lin, said to be Tsai and Cheng’s cohort, at a newly constructed two-story house in Executive Villagers Society, BF Homes, which apparently served as the group’s storage.

The Las Piñas police chief, Senior Supt. Jemar Modequillo, said a typical observer would not suspect that the house being rented by Tsai and Cheng was used for illegal activities. “I saw a compressor, refrigerators, a tank. But if I were an ordinary person, I wouldn’t think this was a drug lab,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

Aside from the drug-manufacturing equipment, seized from Tsai and Cheng were 50 kilos of suspected shabu powder and buckets containing what authorities believe to be liquid methamphetamine, Modequillo said.

Found at Lin’s house were 15 packs of suspected “shabu” and 24 balikbayan boxes containing suspected ephedrine powder hidden in tape dispensers, one of shabu’s main ingredients, said Carumba.

According to the neighbors, the house was newly constructed and the suspect moved in only two weeks ago. “They thought the packages being brought in the house were still for its construction. They had no idea he was bringing in drugs,” said the Parañaque Police chief, Senior Supt. Jose Carumba.

Modequillo and Carumba said the three suspects were taken to PDEA’s headquarters for further questioning, as none of them spoke in English at the time of their arrest.

The suspects will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act before the Department of Justice, PDEA director Isidro Lapeña said. With a report from Jerome Aning