Malaysian carrying P15-M shabu arrested in Pasay City

MANILA, Philippines — Acting on a tip, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested a Malaysian man  believed to be a drug mule for a West African drug syndicate and found P15 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” hidden in a compartment in his suitcase.

Bing Sye Poh, 37, a native of Kuala Lumpur, was presented to reporters on Monday, in a briefing called by NBI officer-in-charge Nonnatus Caesar Rojas.

Poh was charged with violating Republic Act No. 9155 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2011 before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s office shortly after his arrest on March 23.

Agents of the NBI Reaction, Arrest, and Interdiction Division (RAID) picked up Poh at the Edsa Rotunda in Pasay City, right after he picked up a brown leather bag from a nearby compound.

Rojas told reporters that when they examined the bag, they found that it had a false bottom—a cleverly hidden compartment—which contained 2.47 kilos of shabu worth around P15 million.

NBI-RAID head Ross Jonathan Galicia said that earlier, they received information that a West African drug syndicate had smuggled into the country an undetermined amount of cocaine and shabu.

He added that they also learned that Poh had been sent by the syndicate to pick up and deliver the drug shipment.

At around noon on March 23, NBI agents spotted Poh taking a taxi cab from his hotel in Parañaque City without any bag. He got off at the corner of Buendia and FB Harrison Streets in Pasay City and entered a private compound from where he emerged with a suitcase.

He flagged down a taxi, which unknown to him was being driven by an NBI agent, and asked to be taken to the hotel where he was staying in Parañaque City. At this point, more NBI agents appeared and arrested him.

Poh, however, denied that he owned the bag. He said that a fellow Malaysian had asked him to go to Manila, pick up the bag from a man he identified only as “666” and return with it to Malaysia where he would receive $1,500 for his services.

According to Galicia, the West African drug syndicate usually taps Vietnamese, Malaysians and Filipinos to act as its drug mules.