Boracay drug raid leads to more raps

ILOILO CITY—More criminal charges for maintaining and patronizing a drug den have been filed against 18 Taiwanese and seven Chinese nationals who were arrested in Boracay, the country’s prime resort island in Aklan province.

Twenty-one of the foreigners have been accused of maintaining a drug den and the rest of patronizing it, said Senior Insp. Jess Baylon, chief of the Boracay Tourist Assistance Center, the island’s police force.

They were arrested in Boracay last month following a buy-bust operation in a two-story house in Barangay Balabag that the foreigners had rented for P120,000 a month.

Police found phones, computers, routers, modems and other electronic equipment and dozens of pills, serums and syringes and suspected “shabu” or methamphetamines.

Tests by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency showed that some of the items contained ephedrine, a controlled substance which is one of the main ingredients of shabu. These were found in 47 pouches in several rooms of the house.

Baylon said the additional complaints were filed based on the test results. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas