MANILA, Philippines — Anti-narcotics agents seized 72 kilos of crystal meth, or shabu, in a warehouse in Las Piñas City Tuesday.
The contraband, concealed under salted fish packed in Styrofoam boxes at the second floor of the warehouse in Martinsville Subdivision, was detected by drug-sniffing dogs of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which mounted the joint operation with the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group.
Machines in which authorities believe the drugs were hidden and smuggled into the country were also discovered on the third floor of the warehouse.
In the wake of the drug seizure, Southern Police District director Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinario ordered tighter security at bus terminals following reports from the Drug Enforcement Group that the contraband was being transported from the Visayas and Mindanao by land.
DEG chief Senior Superintendent Graciano Mijares said the syndicate that owned the seized narcotics concealed the drugs in packs of salted fish or dried mangoes to make detection difficult.
Before the Las Piñas raid, the PDEA and DEG arrested a member of the syndicate, Cheng Te Ho Chan, as he transported 50 kilos of shabu, worth P250 million, to Aseana City on June 3. And on June 6, in another warehouse, three kilos of shabu, worth P15 million, were seized.
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