The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has arrested four suspects and killed a Chinese in three drug operations in Quezon City, Valenzuela City and Bulacan, and seized shabu worth P1.482 billion.
Director general Wilkins Villanueva said they were looking into the conspiracy of the three groups involved in the raids.
“We believe that these groups are related to each other, and it’s here that we see the main source of illegal drugs,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte hailed the buy-bust operation in Novaliches as he defended his administration’s bloody war against drugs anew.
“It is one of the largest hauls — more than P1 billion,” he said.
“This shows how serious the drug situation is in the Philippines. That explains the reason for my fulmination in public…You, not me, not my family, benefit from tokhang,” the President added.
PDEA identified the fatality as Wu Zishen, 50, who was killed in a shootout in Barangay Santol, Balagtas, Bulacan.
He yielded at least 75 kilos of shabu worth P510 million, an identification card and a .45-caliber pistol, PDEA said.
Another suspect, one Chen Hongli, managed to escape.
PDEA was also able to arrest three suspects in Barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City, and seized 127 kilos of shabu worth P863.6 million.
The suspects were identified as Willie Lu Tan, 42; Anton Wong, 28, and Chen Zhin, 79.
Meanwhile, the authorities also nabbed Joseph Dy in Barangay Paso de Blas, Valenzuela City and seized from the suspect 15 kilos of shabu with a value of P102 million.
Villanueva said all the arrested suspects were charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
National Capital Region Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said the “successful” operations were a result of coordination among police and anti-drug operatives.
At the same time, police busted two suspected big-time drug traffickers and seized P1.7 million worth of shabu in a buy bust operation in Taguig City.
Danao said the suspects – Reggie Parino, alias Raymark, and Jerry Adriano — were arrested at Tatay Berting’s Special Pancit Food House along Manuel L. Quezon Street in Barangay Lower Bicutan around 2 p.m. on Sunday.
In related developments, Sen. Panfilo Lacson asked PDEA and the Dangerous Drug Board to look deeper into Chinese Nationals’ Philippine drug operations and connections.
He questioned why some Chinese nationals were being bolder in their involvement in drug operations in the Philippines..
“How long have they been operating here? Do they have connections in government?” also asked Lacson.
According to Lacson, these were among the questions that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and DDB should look into, after a series of anti-drug operations by the Philippine National Police, Lacson said Monday.
“Salute to the PNP! More than these successful police operations, the DDB and PDEA should look deeper into the bold and imprudent behavior of these Chinese nationals to choose the Philippines as their base; how long they had been operating; their possible connections in government, etc.,” Lacson, who headed the PNP from 1999 to 2001, Lacson said
Lacson is the sponsor of the budget of the PDEA, which coordinates the law enforcement operations against the illegal drug trades; and of the DDB, which is involved in policy formulation on drug prevention and control.
Danao said he said a team from the National Capital Region Police Office conducted the drug sting operation with the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Southern Police District – Taguig Police Station and PNP-Drug Enforcement Group.
Seized from the suspects were 250 grams of shabu and the money used by the authorities in the entrapment operation.
“The confiscated drug evidence was sent to the crime laboratory for confirmatory testing while the suspects remain under police custody pending the filing of charges for violation of R.A. 9165,” said Danao.
Danao commended the team for the latest accomplishment, saying their successful operation is part of the government’s crackdown on drug dealing in Metro Manila.
“The PNP’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs will continue through the unwavering efforts of our operatives towards a drug free community,” he said.