ANGELES CITY, Pampanga–Around P1.1 billion worth of liquid methamphetamine used in the manufacture of shabu was seized on Tuesday morning by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents and Angeles policemen from a laboratory in a subdivision here.
The chemical, contained in 45 gallons, was found in a house on Don Vicente Street in Villa Dolores in Barangay Santo Domingo during a court-approved search at about 9 a.m., Gladys Rosales, PDEA chief in Central Luzon, said.
The house, owned by a lawyer, was once rented by an actor.
The house had been leased two months ago to a man identified only as Chang. The police were looking for five suspects, including three Taiwanese. They were not around when the lawmen searched the house.
The house was sealed, apparently due to the stench of the chemical that had drawn the attention of neighbors.
Rosales said the chemical was a step away from being processed into shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
The lawmen also found equipment known to be used in making shabu.
This was the second shabu laboratory found in Angeles City.
On March 16, PDEA agents seized equipment that can manufacture 10 to 15 kilograms of shabu daily from a house on Clover Street in Timog subdivision here. They recovered 99 sacks of suspected sodium hydroxide, 19 sacks of unknown substance, 15 pails of suspected ammonia, red phosphorus, ethanol, cupric sulfate, iodine, ethanol and assorted laboratory equipment.
Since 2014, two laboratories have been busted in Central Luzon. The first, which yielded P4 billion worth of shabu, was found in a private warehouse in Greenville Subdivision in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, south of Angeles City.
The second, a warehouse of a farmers’ cooperative, was dismantled in a town in Tarlac province, north of Angeles City. CDG/rga
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