CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- At least 12.5 kilograms of ephedrine, a main ingredient in the making of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), were recovered by the police from a tricycle driver in Balanga City, Bataan, on Sunday, police said.

The ephedrine was recovered from Emilio Palad, 55, a native of the Bataan capital, said Superintendent Benjamin Silo Jr., Balanga police chief.

Silo said Palad reported to a contact in the police's Special Action Force at 4 p.m. Sunday that he found a sack of white crystalline substance on a vacant lot in Sunshine Subdivision in Barangay (Village) Tuyo.

Authorities confirmed this after representatives of the police, Department of Justice, and barangay (village) officials inspected the site.

The inventory was finished at past 5 p.m., Silo said.

The sack contained white crystalline power like tawas (alum), he said.

The police held Palad for questioning. A lawyer was sought to assist him in executing his affidavit.

Silo said the police wanted to find out how Palad learned of the location of the ephedrine, if he got the substance from another person or if he knew of a drug syndicate operating in the area or anywhere else in Bataan.

Palad declined a phone interview while at the police station on Sunday.

The police coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to investigate Palad's story.

Silo said this was the first time that a large amount of ephedrine was found in the city.