P110M worth of shabu seized from 2 in Makati drug bust

Amid the government’s intensive crackdown on drugs, 22 kilograms of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth about P110 million were seized from two persons in a buy-bust operation in Guadalupe, Makati City on Monday morning.

According to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, one of the arrested suspects is supplying drugs obtained from a Chinese national based in Hong Kong through the help of her partner, an inmate at the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP).

Several packs of shabu were seized from Rosario Echaluce, 38, and her nephew Angelo, 19, both from Binangonan, Rizal, after selling one kilo of shabu worth P1 million to an undercover policeman.

In a press conference at Camp Crame, Dela Rosa asked Rosario to identify her partner detained at Bilibid.

Covering her face with a white towel, a crying Rosario whispered to Dela Rosa: “Hilorio Labandero.”

“‘Yung boyfriend niya, ‘yan ‘yung kumokontak sa Intsik sa Hong Kong. ‘Yung Intsik may tinatawagan sa Pampanga na nagpapa-deliver dito ng shabu,” Dela Rosa said.

He said the 22 kilos of shabu confiscated from the two were intended for delivery in Cebu.

Dela Rosa said Labandero could be an underling of a drug lord inside Bilibid who had been transferred to Building 14 of NBP, where high-profile Filipino and Chinese drug lords are detained.

“Ang problema may naiwan pa na bata nila sa maximum security compound. Sila na ‘yung kumokontak sa Hong Kong na nagshi-ship sa another Chinese sa Pampanga. ‘Yon ang nagbigay sa mga taong ito,” he said.

The police chief also issued a warning against Rosario’s partner.

“Kung nasaan ka man ngayon, kung nasa maximum security ka, bantay ka pipitpitin ko leeg mo hangga’t sabihin mo kung nasaan ‘yung Intsik na kausap mo,” he said.

Charges of violation of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are being readied against the suspects./rga