Four Chinese gangsters arrested during raid on shabu laboratory

laboratory
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officers dismantle a shabu laboratory in Batangas. The premises had been under surveillance for nearly seven months following a tip off from the Chinese authoritiesPDEA photo

Four Chinese gangsters were among eight people arrested during a raid on a shabu laboratory in Batangas province.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), were supported by the police and Army in the raid in Ibaan town today (Thursday, April 12).

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The Chinese citizens are believed to be members of the Dragon Wu drug syndicate.

Arrested during the operation were Tian Baoquan and Guo Zixing, who allegedly served as chemists in the operation, and their alleged Filipino accomplices identified as Eduardo Lorenzo, aged 59; Rosaleo Cesar, 49, and Amancio Gallarde, 40.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said the lab had a capacity to produce 25 kilograms of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) per day.

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“The flasks have Chinese characters but the chemicals are possibly locally-produced and not included in the list of illegal substances under RA 9165 but will still be subjected to laboratory examination.”

Republic Act 9165 is the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

PDEA spokesman Director Derrick Carreon said the the lab had been under surveillance for nearly seven months following a tip off from China’s National Narcotics Control Commission.

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Arrested in a follow-up operation in Tagaytay City were Hong Dy, another alleged chemist, Xie Jiansheng believed to have served as the handler of the arrested chemists, and Nestor Baguio, a driver.

The PDEA chief said that another Chinese national, believed to be the top handler of chemists, returned to the country via Cebu City from Guanzhou, China, on February 24. “He took a ship to Manila where he reportedly visited a suspected shabu laboratory in La Union and stayed temporarily in Tagaytay City,” he said.

The PDEA cited Chinese intelligence reports that “the shabu and ecstasy-producing laboratory was organised by a Hong Kong-based drug kingpin/financier”.