Cops recapture Chinese drug convicts renting near Crame

Five months after their daring escape in Cavite province with the help of a robbery syndicate, a Chinese couple convicted of drug trafficking in 2009 were recaptured in San Juan City, a short drive from the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Li Lan Yan and his wife Wang Li Na were arrested Friday night in a house they had been renting since March, which is only minutes away from Camp Crame.

The couple escaped from their jail guards on Feb. 20 with another Chinese convict Li Tian Hua, who remained at large. A band of 14 men, believed to be members of the Ozamis robbery gang, snatched them from the guards who were escorting them to a court hearing in Trece Martirez, Cavite, that day.

The couple did not resist arrest when cornered by members of the Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD) of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in a house at Infante Subdivision.

CIDG head Chief Supt. Frank Uyami said the couple resumed their illegal activities after their escape. They first stayed in Ozamiz City for several days before returning to Metro Manila, where they found a place in San Juan and paid rent for 10 months in advance. They reportedly employed a cook, also a Chinese national, who was not around during the arrest.

“We always knew that they never left the Philippines,” said Uyami, whose unit spearheaded Case Operation Plan or Coplan “Lily” to recover the convicts. The operation also relied on intelligence from the military and civilian assets.

The police found documents at the house suggesting that the couple were using new names—Jessie and Teresita Tan—and also preparing to leave the country. Li Lan Yan had also reportedly used the alias Jackson Dy.

According to AOCD deputy chief Supt. Romeo Baleros, the couple claimed during interrogation that Li Tian Hua had already left the country, but this was yet to be verified.

Further intelligence work revealed that, from Ozamiz, the Chinese couple were taken to Taguig City first before moving to San Juan, Baleros said.

“Every now and then, the wife, who was the chemist, would leave the house (in San Juan) to go to different locations for drug manufacturing,” he added.

Baleros said the police, particularly in the Southern Tagalog region, noticed a drop in the street price of “shabu” after the Chinese convicts escaped, indicating an increase in supply. “When they were still in jail, the price of shabu was around P17,000 per bulk. It went down to around P11,000 when they had gotten out.”

The couple were first arrested in 2003 at a safe house in Parañaque City, where authorities found 350 kg of shabu worth P2.8 billion. Li Lan Yan was also tagged as the operator of a shabu laboratory in Tanza, Cavite.

They were sentenced to life imprisonment six years later.

Uyami recalled: “We were really surprised that even after they were handed down life sentences for their crime, the judges (who tried the two separate cases filed against them) sent them to the provincial jail instead of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntilupa City.”

Security at the Cavite jail turned out to be “loose,” he said.