ANOTHER Chinese drug lord and his Filipino cohort were sentenced to life imprisonment after the Zamboanga Regional Trial Court convicted them of drug charges for operating a clandestine shabu laboratory in a remote village of Zamboanga City in 2008.
RTC Judge Eric Elumba of Branch 13 convicted Yang Wenyi, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, and Filipino national Benjamin Jamora of violating Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and ordered them to pay a fine of P10 million with subsidiary imprisonment.
Yang was a member of six international drug syndicates that has been operating in different areas in the country for several years already, said Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Isidro Lapeña.
Lapeña said Yang, who is also known under several aliases, surrendered to then Zamboanga mayor and now Rep. Celso Lobregat in February 2008 after the authorities busted the laboratory he supposedly operated on a two-hectare compound in Sitio Calibato of Barangay Lamisan on Feb. 22, 2008.
“I am very pleased with the decision of Judge Elumba for ensuring that justice is promptly served. Also, congratulations are in order to the barangay officials and local police, who conducted the initiative that paved the way to the discovery of the shabu lab,” Lapeña said.
The lab was discovered after residents complained of a foul odor originating from the compound. Yang surrendered, along with another Chinese national, identified as Lucky Ong, and seven Filipino sibalterns, bit Yang said the eight others were innocent.
When the raiding party entered the building, 16 liters of liquid methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, 173.3 kilograms of ephedrine and other ingredients and several laboratory equipment, were found.
Investigation revealed that the place is owned by Yang, with Jamora as its caretaker. This prompted PDEA agents and Zamboanga City police to proceed to Yang’s rented condominium unit in Go Huilo Building on Tomas Claudio Street.
But only Yang’s wife Janet, who is Jamora’s sister, was present and accompanied the lawmen to another two-story house where they awaited Yang. He, however, did not show up.
The following day, Janet led the operating team in her house in Lohoy Grande, Talon-Talon, Zamboanga City where shabu chemicals were also found.
“This is another victory for the national anti-drug campaign against high-profile foreign drug personalities and their cohorts who operate clandestine shabu laboratories in the country,” Lapeña said.