Cops shut down ‘shabu’ lab in Pampanga town

POLICE found these modern equipment, said to be used in manufacturing 100 kilograms of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) daily, in the remote mountainous village of Lacquios in Arayat town in Pampanga province. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Police shut down what they described as a “mega shabu laboratory” that was discovered by employees who were conducting fire safety and sanitary inspections in Arayat town on Thursday.

The inspection team was surprised to find the laboratory in what should have been a piggery and corn crusher factory, according to Arayat Mayor Emmanuel Bonifacio Alejandrino.

Not kitchen-type

The laboratory was a large warehouse surrounded by trees and shrubs near the Cong Dadong Dam in Barangay Lacquios at the foothills of Mount Arayat.

The facility could produce as much as 100 kilograms of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) per day, said Senior Supt. Rodolfo Recomono, provincial police director.

“It’s the biggest facility found so far, with big equipment. This is not a kitchen-type of laboratory,” he said.

The piggery was reportedly being operated by “a man with a Chinese name,” he said, adding that workers at the site fled and are now being tracked down by the police.

Lacquios is about 5 kilometers from Barangay Balitucan in Magalang town where agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the police found on Sept. 7 an underground shabu laboratory inside a piggery farm. Seven Chinese nationals were arrested there.

High-value target

Recomono said they were still looking into the possible connection of the Lacquios laboratory to that found in Balitucan.

In Lucena City, police arrested the estranged wife of a member of the Alcala clan for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in Quezon province.

Senior Supt. Antonio Yarra, Quezon police director, said Rhine Christine Briones Alcala, also known as Arlene, 38, is a “high-value target” on the local police’s drug watch list.

Policemen, armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Agripino Morga of the San Pablo City Regional Trial Court, raided Alcala’s house in San Juan Estate in Barangay Isabang, Tayabas City, at 2 a.m.

Recovered from Alcala’s house were six sachets of shabu worth P1,500; a sachet containing suspected marijuana seeds; and magazines and bullets for a .45 cal. pistol.

Arlene Alcala is the estranged wife of Sajid Alcala.

Family scandal

On Aug. 14, Sajid and his father, Cerilo “Athel” Alcala, the top two suspects on the drug watch list of the Lucena City police, surrendered to authorities.

Cerilo is brother of former Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Quezon Rep. Vicente Alcala and Board Member Hermilando Alcala Jr.

Family members said Cerilo and Sajid decided to present themselves to authorities because their alleged involvement in illegal drugs had dragged the entire family into a scandal.

After their surrender last month, Cerilo, who denied he was into illegal drug trading, was placed under hospital arrest.

Sajid had no pending arrest warrant and was allowed to go home after his surrender. His father was also freed after posting bail.

On Sept. 11, Cerilo’s wife, Maria Fe Abutin Alcala, and daughter, Toni Ann, also classified by the police as high-value targets, were arrested in a drug bust in Tayabas City.

President Duterte, in his recent speeches, cited members of the Alcala family as among those suspected of involvement in illegal drugs. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon and Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon