Vietnamese arrested after delivery rider tips cops about shabu package

Photo from the Southern Police District

MANILA, Philippines — A Vietnamese national was arrested on New Year’s Day after a motorcycle rider tipped police officers about a package he was asked to deliver containing suspected crystal meth or shabu, the Southern Police District (SPD) said.

In its report on Monday, SPD said that a delivery rider from the ride-hailing application Grab appeared before the Station Investigation and Detective Management Office (SIDM) of the Makati City Police Station to inform authorities about the package contained in a red eco bag.

Photo from the Southern Police District

According to the rider, he received the eco bag from a male and female Vietnamese national at a building along Malugay Street in Barangay Bel Air, Makati.  When he asked the two about the package contents, he was ignored.

“He later then tried to verify the items in the eco bag by asking them what is inside the bag, the sender ignored the driver, upon verification he discovered the suspected illegal drugs,” the SPD said in a report.

The SPD said police officers from the Makati City Police, particularly those from the SIDM, immediately set up an entrapment operation in front of a condominium in Salcedo corner Benavidez Streets in Barangay San Lorenzo.

The suspect who received the package at 8:05 a.m. was arrested and identified as a certain Nguyen Luong Hai, 30.

Police said officers seized a rose gold iPhone unit and the reported shabu inside the eco bag, enclosed inside a cigarette pack.  The cigarette pack was then contained in a box of face masks.

The shabu seized weighed around a gram and was estimated to be worth P6,800.

A complaint for violating Section 11 (Possession of Illegal Drugs) under Article II of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 is currently being prepared against the suspect.  He is currently detained at the Makati City Police Station, SPD said.

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JPV