MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested Tuesday two Chinese and a Filipino and confiscated from them 6.2 kilos of shabu worth P27 million during a sting operation in Manila.
Wendun Chen, alias Wilson Tan, 45; Lianfu Chen, alias Jimmy Tan, 56; and Saidali Magdao Muliloda, 45; did not resist arrest when cornered by elements of the Regional Police Intelligence and Operating Unit (RPIOU) along Quirino Avenue, in Paco at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The arrest of the suspects is part of the proactive approach of the National Capital Region Police Office against street crimes and illegal drugs, said NCRPO chief Director Nicanor Bartolome.
“As much as possible, we prefer to be proactive rather than reactive. Six kilos of shabu is a lot and the prevention of the proliferation of illegal drugs in the streets is indeed a major accomplishment,” said Bartolome.
Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel, head of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force created Case Operation Plan “Ice Meltdown” after PO3 Christopher Rivera arranged a deal with Wendun for the purchase of half a kilo of shabu worth P1 million.
“After several weeks of surveillance operation, we managed to agree on the purchase of shabu and the rendezvous point was agreed near a convenience store in Paco,” said Laurel.
An RPIOU team headed by Inspector Ernesto Capungcol positioned themselves at the rendezvous point until the suspects arrived on board a gray Nissan Cefiro (XMS 883) and a white Toyota Fortuner (ZFE 154).
Lianfu was arrested after he handed over the shabu to Rivera in exchange for P1 million “boodle” money. Capungcol’s team arrested Wendun and Muliloda and a subsequent search of their vehicle yielded the other shabu shipment.
Bartolome said the suspects are behind the proliferation of shabu in Manila and also in the neighboring city of Makati. “We are still determining the drug syndicate they belong to, and where they got their supply of illegal drugs,” said Bartolome, noting that there are several drug laboratories in the country which were neutralized by the police in the past.
The three suspects, who were clad in orange “detainee” t-shirts, chose to remain silent over the charges against them.