Narcs raid 2 more Alabang homes

MANILA, Philippines—Two more houses at exclusive Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City were raided by antinarcotics agents Friday night who found drug-making paraphernalia and about three kilograms of “shabu” or methamphetamine hydrochloride.

The latest raids by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) came on the heels of the Jan. 7 raid on another house in the village that yielded shabu and the equipment to make it.

No arrests were made, however, in the latest raids as both houses were empty when the agents arrived to serve a search warrant issued by a Manila court, the PDEA said. A tipster had alerted the agency about the drug laboratories allegedly operated by groups of Chinese men.

“Based on our initial assessment, they were medium-scale clandestine laboratories, but we are still investigating how big exactly the operation was. An inventory of the drug evidence is ongoing,” said PDEA public information chief Evangeline Almenario.

The first raid at 11 p.m. occurred at 119 Kanlaon St. where PDEA operatives found about three kilograms of finished shabu product, lab equipment and assorted chemicals, including boxes of Novahist cold tablets from which the chemical ephedrine could be extracted to make shabu.

At P5,000 per gram, the street value of three kilograms of shabu is P15 million.

More laboratory equipment, “chemicals and chemical wastes and residue” were found at the second address, 536 Country Club Drive, Almenario said.

“We are investigating to determine if the two clandestine laboratories were in any way connected to the clandestine laboratory at 504 Acacia Avenue,” said Almenario, referring to the home on a one-hectare property that was raided the other week.

In a television interview Saturday, PDEA National Capital Region Director Pedrito Magsino said the houses were being rented by Chinese tenants who could have been connected to the five Chinese arrested in the first raid.

He identified a “Man Lat” and a “Mr. Wong,” as among those who rented the properties. He said the owners of the homes, whom he did not name, told investigators the Chinese began leasing the houses on yearlong contracts in September.

Owners’ denial

Magsino said the owners—a Filipino and the other who appeared to be of Chinese descent —denied knowing anything about the drug activities of their tenants, although their claims would have to be investigated.

“We don’t have specific information about the location (of the Chinese suspects) but we are hoping they are still in the country,” Magsino said.

Almenario said the drug bust at Acacia “must have prompted the people operating the two clandestine laboratories to abandon base.”

In the raid on the Acacia house, PDEA agents arrested five Chinese suspects and seized truckloads of drug paraphernalia and equipment.

5 charged in first raid

Investigators later discovered that the house leased by the suspects for P260,000 a month was registered under the name of Fuerte Holdings, a company controlled by the late philanthropist Consuelo Madrigal-Collantes.

Five men who hailed from Hong Kong were arrested in that raid and charged with drug manufacture and possession of drugs and drug-making equipment: Lam Ka Chun, 51; Ken Ming Chao, with alias Lam Tse Kin, 49; Kwok Chi Keung, 42; Choi Yiu Chun, 33; and Choi Yiu Kit, 33.

The back-to-back drug raids prompted Ayala Alabang homeowners to revisit their leasing procedures.

Ayala Alabang barangay chair Alfred Burgos was quoted in a TV report as saying: “The Ayala Alabang Village Association, which is the guardian of security for this village, is now reviewing the processes of tenants and agents involved in leasing procedures.”

Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro directed Barangay Ayala Alabang officials to explain how the drug laboratories were “able to operate under their noses,” city public information office chief Omar Acosta said.

“There could be sanctions if they are found to be remiss in their jobs,” Acosta quoted the mayor as saying.

Barangay mandate

“Maintaining a drug free environment is part of (a barangay’s) mandate under the Local Government Code,” the mayor added.

Following the discovery of a shabu laboratory on Jan. 7, San Pedro directed Barangay Ayala Alabang officials to work closely with the village association to coming up with measures to address the problem.

“Hindi lang drugs kasi baka may iba pang illegal activities na nangyayari sa loob na hindi natin alam (It’s not just drugs because there might be other illegal activities that are happening that we don’t know about),” Acosta further quoted the mayor as saying.

San Pedro has also called for a review of the village’s security protocols.

He asked for the homeowners’ cooperation, adding that it was for their own good.