‘Secret,’ says PNP on source of P2.6-B drugs

NO ORDINARY PET FOOD A kilo of the seized drugs was packaged as dog food while the rest were advertised as Chinese tea. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The Philippine National Police presented to reporters on Thursday 388 kilos of “shabu” (crystal meth) worth P2.6 billion seized in separate operations this week from a Chinese man and two Filipinos.

But PNP officer in charge Police Lt. General Archie Gamboa opted to keep secret for now some of the details about the seizure, saying that ongoing follow-up operations to go after the Chinese drug suspect’s other couriers could be jeopardized.

He stressed, however, that the operations conducted by  the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Capital Region Police Office stopped the supply of high-grade shabu from reaching the streets of Metro Manila and some provinces.

At the start of the press briefing, Gamboa told the media that he might not be able to answer all their questions “because operationally, there are still follow-up activities that are being undertaken.”

When reporters asked about the source of the shabu and how a large quantity of high-grade crystal meth was smuggled into the country, he replied: “We cannot disclose that because of the ongoing follow-up operation.” At one point, he simply said: “Secret.”

Gamboa said that Chinese suspect Liu Chao was part of a big drug syndicate which he  did not identify. As the group’s “bodegero” (warehouse man), Chao directly receives the shabu and sells it piecemeal to street distributors like the two arrested suspected couriers,  Joel Bustamante and Merwin Bustamante.

Chao was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Makati City on Tuesday night while the Bustamantes, his alleged drug couriers, were apprehended on Wednesday in Las Piñas.