P360M shabu hidden in salted fish seized in Las Piñas warehouse

June 14, 2017 - 7:37 AM
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Salted fish and packs of shabu spill out of a container during a raid on a warehouse in Las Piñas in this image from News5 video. The BOC, however, is in trouble for failing to stop another shabu smuggling - worth P6 billion - found in a Valenzuela warehouse.

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.

WATCH THE VIDEO REPORT OF NEWS5’S JEFF CAPARAS: