2 Chinese killed in raid on Isabela shabu lab

CAUAYAN CITY, Isabela, Philippines – Two Chinese nationals died in a firefight with authorities last Sunday when the police raided a shabu laboratory hidden in a houseware depot owned by a former Isabela town mayor.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa identified the slain suspects as Jixin Li Huang, alias Kim Punzalan Uy, and Cangbo Sheng In from Fujian province, based on a passport recovered at the crime scene.

Dela Rosa said authorities are determining if the slain alias Uy and drug lord Atong Lee were the same person.

Seized from the crime scene were assorted chemical precursors, laboratory equipment used in the manufacture of shabu, a caliber .45 pistol, an Ingram 9mm machine pistol and a beige Toyota Hilux with license plate ABB 3553.

Thirty plastic containers and 20 drums believed to contain chemicals and apparatus used for manufacturing shabu were found inside the warehouse.

Dela Rosa said the police also recovered some documents written in Chinese characters in the warehouse office, and these would later be translated.

Dela Rosa described the clandestine laboratory as “high-tech,” which could manufacture 400 kilos of shabu in a week.

He said the drug facility was more advanced than the one raided by the police at the foothills of Mt. Arayat, Barangay Lacquious, Arayat town in Pampanga last month.

The high-tech shabu lab raided last Sunday was located at Maharlika Highway in Cauayan City and was covered by a search warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Unlike the Arayat shabu laboratory that was yet to start operations when busted, the drug laboratory in Cauayan City had indications that it had started operations as far back as last December, with the presence of controlled precursors and essential chemicals.

Cauayan City Vice Mayor Leoncio Dalin Jr. said the warehouse is owned by businessman Manuel Tio, former mayor of the adjoining municipality of Luna, based on city government records.

City police chief Supt. Ariel Quilang said the local police would invite Tio to shed light on the matter and also identify the owner of the Toyota Hilux found near the laboratory.

Authorities have yet to determine the value of seized drug items.

“The facility is located along the highway and at the center of the city, so it initially escaped detection, unlike the drug facility in Arayat,” PNP Anti-Illegal Drug Group head Senior Supt. Albert Ignacio Ferro said.

In a separate raid conducted at Rose Marie Reyes street, also in Cauayan City, the police recovered revolvers, four shotgun shells and a Colt Defender pistol with two magazines, Ferro said.