Updated @ 11:34 p.m., Feb. 3, 2019, to add quotes and more details
MANILA, Philippines — Two Chinese nationals on Sunday were killed in a buy-bust operation conducted by anti-drug agents at a suspected crystal meth warehouse in Cavite. The agents seized P1.9 billion worth of suspected crystal meth, known locally as shabu, from the warehouse.
The slain suspects were identified as Vincent Du Lim and Hong Li Wen.
Joint operations
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino said the operation was conducted by joint teams of the PDEA Calabarzon, Intelligence and Investigation Service and National Capital Region, as well as the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
The buy-bust operation, conducted around 4 p.m. Sunday, at a warehouse along Antero Soriano Highway, Barangay Amaya 1, Tanza town in Cavite, resulted in the death of the suspects and the recovery of some 274 kilograms of shabu worth an estimated P1.9 billion.
According to PDEA Calabarzon operations division chief Joshua Arquero, the suspects were killed in a gunfight with the agents.
“They (Chinese nationals) were the subjects of the buy-bust. They sensed they were dealing with a PDEA agent inside the warehouse, drew their guns and started firing,” Arquero told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
The suspects’ aggression prompted the agents to return fire which resulted in the death of the two alleged drug dealers.
Arquero said there was no one else besides the two suspects when authorities swooped down on the target shabu warehouse, which he described as a house with an adjacent “bodega.”
Finished products
Agents found at least “274 packs” of suspected shabu inside the warehouse.
“These are finished products. It is not a lab,” Arquero added.
Authorities were still conducting an inventory of the drug haul as of 6 p.m.
Arquero said they were now conducting an investigation on the background of the two slain Chinese nationals. /je /atm /pdi