The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) announced yesterday the discovery of 10 kilos of shabu worth P35 million and chemicals used in the manufacture of illegal drug worth P20 million in an abandoned shabu laboratory in Quezon City on Saturday.
Police said the clandestine lab located at C-7 Christian Street, Grace Village, Barangay Apolonio Samson, Quezon City, could produce around 200 kilos of shabu a week.
Police Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, QCPD director, said the clandestine illegal drug laboratory was discovered by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-National Capital Region (PDEA-NCR) under Director Wilkins Villanueva and personnel of La Loma Police Station (PS-1) headed by Police Supt. Tomas G. Nuñes.
The discovery stemmed from the complaint of Mr. Wilson Lee after the tenant of his town house failed to pay monthly rentals for several months.
According to Lee, a certain Mr. Daniel Geng, a native of mainland China, rented the place last December 2015 and failed to pay the rentals for the fourth and succeeding months until he decided to open it yesterday in the presence of his lawyers, barangay officials and the authorities.
Upon opening the apartment, they saw illegal drug-making paraphernalia, apparatus, and chemicals inside.
PDEA personnel took custody of the property and the recovered items, including the alleged finished products which will be subjected to chemical examinations.
According to PDEA, they placed the house under surveillance several months ago based on information that it was involved in illegal drug manufacturing and that its tenant, Mr. Geng, was connected with the illegal drug personalities who were arrested in Las Piñas and Parañaque on July 5, 2016.
Authorities believe that Mr. Geng was the Quezon City counterpart of arrested drug suspects Shih-ming Tsai, Kuo-chuan Cheng, and Chun-ming Lin, all Chinese nationals, who also used a rented house as shabu laboratory.
(FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD)