Chinese caught with P2-M shabu

Quezon City policemen arrested a Chinese national in an entrapment operation on Saturday afternoon and seized some P2-million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” from him.

Operatives of the Quezon City Police District’s (QCPD) antidrugs unit picked up Xiong Chen, 49, a resident of Abad Santos Street in Tondo, Manila after he allegedly sold 500 grams of shabu to an undercover policeman.

QCPD District Anti-Illegal Drugs head Chief Inspector Roberto Razon said the buy-bust operation was conducted by his men at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the parking lot of a fastfood restaurant at the corner of Banawe and Maria Clara Streets in La Loma, Quezon City.

According to Razon, a Chinese informant had tipped them off about Chen’s illegal activities, prompting them to put him in surveillance for about a week.

He said that after they validated Chen’s involvement in the illegal drug trade, they set up a meeting between him and an undercover policeman for the purchase of half a kilo of shabu at the fastfood restaurant parking lot.

As soon as the transaction was completed, QCPD-DAID personnel introduced themselves and arrested Chen.

Razon said that they were still trying to determine if the Chinese was part of an illegal drug syndicate.

Chen remains detained at the QCPD-DAID jail pending the filing of drug charges against him in the city prosecutor’s office.