2 DOJ prosecutors sent to Virac for ‘shabu’ probe of gov, others

This supposed plastic factory in Virac, Catanduanes province, has yielded equipment that police said is used for the manufacture of “shabu.” —FERNAN GIANAN

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent two prosecutors to reinforce the team investigating the powerful people behind the mega “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) laboratory uncovered in Virac, Catanduanes.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the DOJ prosecutors would help the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) dig deeper into the alleged involvement of Catanduanes Gov. Joseph Cua, Virac Mayor Samuel Laynes and former National Bureau of Investigation regional director Eric Isidoro in the drug lab operations.

“Our investigation is ongoing,” said Aguirre. He said the DOJ sent two prosecutors in response to a request by PNP-AIDG head Senior Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro.

The prosecutors are expected to provide legal assistance and help prepare affidavits as part of the case buildup against the owner of the shabu laboratory and its protectors.

Aguirre said his agents are verifying reports that Cua allegedly supplied shabu to drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, who is now in police custody and could end up as a state witness against big time protectors of the country’s underworld drug industry.

Cua’s side

In an earlier report, Cua denied involvement in the drug trade and said the discovery of the shabu lab sends a strong message that the government is serious in the war on drugs.

The investigation of the shabu lab, he said, “will identify who really is involved.”

“Hopefully, this would clear my name of the longtime election issue raised against me,” Cua said.

Cua said the discovery of the shabu lab had brought embarrassment to the province. “We were caught napping,” said the governor.

Aguirre also said Isidoro has been ordered relieved from his post and reassigned to the NBI headquarters in Manila. Isidoro’s wife had leased the 1,000 square meter lot on which the drug lab in Virac was built.

Ferro claimed that the Virac shabu lab was probably the biggest discovered so far in the country. It has six hydrogenators which can produce up to 9.6 tons of shabu every month.

A focus of the DOJ prosecutors, according to sources, is Isidoro.

Focus of probe

The source, an official of the NBI who requested that he not be named for lack of authority to speak to media, said part of the investigation centers on Isidoro, a native of Virac, whose wife had leased the lot the village of Palta Small where the shabu lab was found.

A police report showed that a search of the warehouse, done over five days, led to the confiscation of at least 360 kg of “white crystalline substance” believed to be ephedrine hydrochloride.

Other items found in the lab that would confirm its use as a shabu manufacturing facility are brownish liquid in steel basins, hot plates, four glass reactors that have combined capacities of 50 liters, digital weighing scales, vacuum flasks the size of refrigerators, filter, six hydrogenator units and solvents.

Police had filed a case of violation of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) against Lawrence Piñera, caretaker of the estate where the warehouse was found; Jayson Gonzales Uy, who leased the 1,000-square meter lot and one Paulo Uy in the provincial prosecutor’s office. —WITH FERNAN GIANAN