Police seize 60 kilos of shabu; 4 arrested

Some 60 kilos of high-grade shabu worth some P120 million were seized by police anti-narcotics operatives in a buy-bust operation in Makati City last Saturday.

Arrested in the sting operation were four suspected big time drug traffickers identified as Daniel Cua Chua, 34, of 1049 Benavidez St., Tondo, Manila; Jorge Calalang; Chi Sing Law, 45, holder of a British passport and resident of 25 Hong Keung St. Kowloon, Hong Kong; and Sai Man Kwok, 40, also holding a British passport and resident of 23 King Spak Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The suspects were arrested inside the City Garden Hotel along Makati Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. shortly after handing over the shabu to an undercover police agent.

After accepting the marked money in exchange for the drugs, policemen detailed with the Anti-Narcotics Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force led by Superintendent Pepito Domantay barged into the hotel room and arrested the suspects.

Domantay told The STAR that they are still tracking down three other suspects, including the group's alleged local contact, a Filipino-Chinese businessman.

According to Domantay, the suspects are always in direct contact with their suppliers in Hong Kong by cellular phone.

Police said that Chi and Sai maintain several businesses in Hong Kong and could have used them as fronts in their drug dealing activities.

Deputy Director General Jewel Canson, head of the National Drug Law Enforcement Preven-tion and Coordinating Center, told reporters that based on conducted tests, the seized shabu were of the highest grade and could have been smuggled by sea from mainland China.

Canson added that Chi and Sai are also known contacts of notorious Hong Kong Triad-linked syndicates operating in the Philippines.

Aside from the 60 kilos of shabu, police also took into custody the suspects' red Toyota Corona sedan with plate number UKK 723 which was allegedly being used in the transportation of shabu.

Canson said that from mainland China, shabu shipments are first taken to Thailand and then Malaysia to avoid detection before they are finally shipped to unguarded Philippine coastlines.

From the Philippines, the shabu is redistributed to other counties, even reaching as far away as the United States and Europe, police said.