P100 M in shabu seized at QC drug bust

Video by INQUIRER.net’s Danica Hermogenes

MANILA, Philippines—Some 20 kilos of shabu, or methamphetamine hydrochloride, worth an estimated P100 million, was seized in a buy-bust operation in Quezon City that led to the arrest of two drug traffickers, the authorities said Wednesday.

Agents from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confiscated the illegal drugs from the suspects in the entrapment operation at a parking lot at the corner of Timog Avenue and Mother Ignacia Street, Barangay (village) South Triangle.

CIDG Director Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. identified the two suspects as Carlos Gonzales Ty, alias Sky Ty, 25, of Ongpin Street, Manila, and Jerwin Manzano De Jesus, alias Jerry Manzano, 30, of Retiro, Quezon City.

The two were alleged members of the Bamboo Gang, Pagdilao said.

Senior Superintendent Rhodel O. Sermonia, chief of the CIDG’s “Maverick” special task group, said the operation was conducted at 1:25 a.m. at the parking lot of a fast food chain.

Sermonia said the two suspects sold a kilo of shabu to an undercover agent before they were arrested. Authorities also recovered from the suspects the P2.5-million boodle money used in the buy-bust. He added that surveillance on the group had been going on for a month before they made contact with the group for a transaction.

Authorities then searched the vehicle of the suspects, a light brown Toyota Camry (WHS 675), where they discovered and seized 22 plastic bags containing about 20 kilos of shabu.

He said that they have not established what Ty’s role in the drug syndicate was and added that follow-up operations were being conducted to catch more members of the group.

PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez vowed in a statement to pursue “without letup” big-time drug syndicates operating in the country.

He also reminded anti-illegal drugs operatives to follow operational procedures in order to ensure the conviction of suspects.

PDEA Deputy Director for Operations Assistant Secretary Carlos Gadapan said that they have yet to analyze the confiscated drugs but said that “shabu” was still “the drug of choice” in the country.

Authorities said that drugs were not only being peddled around Metro Manila but also in neighboring provinces like Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac.

“Were still trying to establish if these (drugs) were imported,” Gadapan said adding that some of the countries which import illegal drugs to the Philippines were Malaysia, Iran and Africa.

The operation was part of the government’s campaign against organized crime, said Pagdilao, adding that it had been under the direction of the newly organized Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) which was under Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.

Under Executive Order 46, the PAOCC supervises the efforts of almost 31 law enforcement agencies in the country against organized crime and corruption. Danica Hermogenes