Duo from Fujian yield P40-M ‘shabu’ in Pasay

A drug entrapment operation conducted by the Pasay City police led to the arrest of two Chinese nationals who yielded around eight kilos of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” worth P40 million on Wednesday.

A report reaching the Southern Police District (SPD) identified the suspects as Li Shao Xiong, 35; and Shi Qing Tian, 47, who also went by the name Angelo Santillan.

Senior Supt. Eusebio Adamero Mejos, SPD officer in charge, said that the two men were from Fujian province in China. They entered the country as tourists although it was not known how long they had been staying here.

Tian’s last known address, according to Mejos, was Plaza Lachambre Street in Binondo, Manila.

“The two had been under surveillance for two months prior to the operation,” Senior Supt. Joel Doria, Pasay police chief, said.

According to Mejos, the suspects were arrested after they sold P40,000 worth of suspected shabu to an undercover policeman in the parking lot of a fastfood restaurant at the corner of Macapagal and Buendia Avenues in Pasay City at 9 p.m.

As soon as the transaction was over, the police closed in on the suspects who tried to escape. They were cornered, however, by the operatives from the SPD’s District Special Operations Unit and the District Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group.

Seized from the two Chinese men were around eight kilos of suspected shabu placed in several transparent resealable bags, the money paid by the undercover policemen and three cell phones, among others.

Charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act were set to be filed against the suspects who remained in the custody of the SPD.