2 suspected foreign drug traffickers arrested in Manila

MANILA, Philippines—Two suspected foreign drug traffickers were arrested Thursday in Manila in a police sting operation.

Superintendent Leonardo Suan, head of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force-Special Operations Unit 2, identified the suspects as Chinese national Siu Ming Tat and Malaysian national Lee Yoong Hoew.

They were seized after they sold 500 grams of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” worth P1.3-million to an undercover agent at the Manila Chinatown Hotel on Benavidez Street, Binondo, around 9:30 a.m.

Suan said Tat and Hoew, who have been travelling in and out of the country, arrived Wednesday from Hong Kong—not through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but through Clark International Airport.

He said his men led by Chief Inspector Arnulfo Ibanez are still tracking down several accomplices of the suspects who are believed to be members of a Hong Kong-based drug syndicate.

According to Suan, the group is composed of Chinese and Malaysians smuggling huge volume of shabu to the Philippines.