This photo from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency shows the alleged laboratory equipment and chemicals used to produce illegal drugs discovered in a Muntinlupa City residence following a raid on Friday, November 18, 2022.
MANILA, Philippines — Anti-narcotic agents stormed two houses allegedly producing suspected crystal meth or “shabu” in Muntinlupa City on Friday morning, seizing P149.6 million worth of illegal drugs.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said in a report that search warrants were served on two separate houses in Ayala-Alabang village.
Arrested in the first house, which was allegedly being used to manufacture illegal drugs like shabu, were French national Aurelien Cythere, 41, and Filipino businessman Mark Anthony Sarayot, 42.
Trays filled with around 20 kilograms of suspected shabu with a street value of P136 million, as well as laboratory equipment and chemicals used to produce illegal drugs, were found in the house, according to PDEA.
It also said that another foreigner, Canadian-Iranian national Ariana Golisorkhi, 33, was collared at a nearby house, where two packs of suspected shabu worth P13.6 million were confiscated.
This photo from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency shows agents conducting an inventory of seized items that were allegedly used for producing illegal drugs following a raid at a Muntinlupa City residence on Friday, November 18, 2022.
“This group used a modified setup for manufacturing shabu. The shabu is mixed in liquid form, then washed with acetone. It’s practically an odorless process, which is probably why they were confident in doing it here in a residential area,” PDEA Assistant Secretary Gregorio Pimentel, who led the operation, said.
Pimentel also said that the three suspects are purportedly linked to Mexican, Australian, and Canadian drug trafficking groups.
“We are currently investigating these links and several other drug personalities,” he added.
Authorities are readying complaints for violating the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002 against the arrested suspects, PDEA said.
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