Authorities arrested a Taiwanese man for smuggling into the country 50 kilos of “shabu” worth around P250 million which were found inside a hotel in Parañaque City on Saturday.
A joint team from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s Regional Office 3 and the Philippine National Police’s Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) caught Chen Teho Chang, 56, at the Red Planet Hotel on Bradco Avenue, Barangay Baclaran, at 5:10 p.m.
Around 50 packs containing shabu, each weighing a kilo, were found inside three styrofoam boxes. The drugs had been hidden under black plastic bags containing “tuyo” or dried fish.
Southern Police District director, Chief Supt. Tomas Apolonario Jr., said the total haul was worth around P250 million, as each kilo of shabu was valued at around P5 million pesos.
Also seized from Chang, a resident of Biñan, Laguna province, were his cell phone and a red Honda Civic with plate number VEM 268.
Senior Supt. Graciano Mijares, director of the PNP DEU, said that during their two months of surveillance on the suspect, he was observed shipping illegal drugs to bigtime buyers.
He added that Chang, who had been a resident of the country for 20 years, was about to make a transaction with another buyer before he was arrested.
According to Mijares, the security guards at the hotel might have missed the illegal drugs because these were hidden under bags of dried fish.
He also said that the suspect might be part of an illegal drug syndicate operating in southern Luzon. The police are still trying to look for Chang’s other cohorts.