P5M worth of shabu seized in Muntinlupa City drug raid

This photo shows the seized illegal drugs from a Muntinlupa condominium during a raid carried out by the Police Drug Enforcement Group on Monday, April 23, 2018. (INQUIRER.net/Jhoanna Ballaran)

Anti-drug operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) seized on Monday a kilo of illegal drugs worth P5 million during an early morning raid in a condominium in Muntinlupa City.

Police Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) head Chief Supt. Albert Ferro said operatives raided a condominium unit allegedly used as a methamphetamine (also known as shabu) laboratory. The unit was believed to be owned by a head of a notorious drug syndicate, Li Hong Peng.

Ferro said the operation was a follow-up on the two buy-bust operations conducted last March 23 in Alabang and Makati, wherein four people were arrested, including Chinese national Jianjia Shi, and three other Filipinos identified as Norodion Guimadel Samplidan, Lade Jane Flores Borja, and Regina Inocencia San Miguel.

“We were able to trace this supposedly safe house, and this morning we served search warrant and we were able to seize several suspected shabu amounting to P5 million,” he noted.

Ferro said authorities served a search warrant issued by Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 Judge Juanita Guerrero.

But nobody was found in the purported safe house during the raid.

According to Ferro, authorities have been monitoring Ping, who is currently at-large and a subject of an ongoing manhunt operation, since December 2017.

He said Ping heads the syndicate together with his Filipina partner identified as Aina Sale Laquire.

The PDEG chief said Ping was arrested in a buy-bust operation in 2012 in San Juan City over 20 kilos of shabu but was subsequently released after posting bail.

Ferro also said that the PDEG is “in a quandary” why Ping was released by a regional trial court despite his case being non-bailable.

“Actually we are trying to conduct further investigation how the judge allowed him to post bail for a non-bailable offense,” he said.

Ferro said no less than President Rodrigo Duterte is looking into the surprising release of Ping from detention.    /kga