Police raided a condominium unit in Pasig Monday night and seized P204 million worth of shabu, one of the biggest drug hauls in Metro Manila this year since President Duterte started the war on drugs in 2016.
Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the arrest of Manolito Lugo Carlos has disrupted one of the main distribution pipelines of illegal drugs in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Carlos is believed to be the right hand man of one of the convicted drug lords serving sentence at the National Bilibid Prison.
“He is a high-profile drug personality and was among major targets of the NCRPO under a case operational plan. He is a main player of a syndicated organized gang engaged in the illegal drug trafficking operating in Metro Manila, Region 3 and CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna. Batangas, Rizal, Quezon),” said Eleazar.
Carlos was previously arrested in 2000 for similar offense but was acquitted by a Mandaluyong court.
Tipped off by informants, police confirmed Carlos’ activities through surveillance and casing of the condominium along C. Raymundo Avenue, Barangay Rosario in Pasig City.
The condo unit served as a warehouse of illegal drugs, according to Eleazar.
Armed with a search warrant, police made their move around 8 p.m. on Monday and arrested Carlos.
Seized from the suspect were 30 pieces of big heat sealed plastic pack of Chinese tea. Each pack contains shabu weighing more or less 1 kilo for each plastic with total of 30 kilos. Also seized were assorted drug paraphernalia.
To avoid falling prey to a buy-bust operation, Carlos resorted to bank deposits, according to police.
This was confirmed by several bank deposits seized from him containing various amounts believed to be payments for shabu transaction.
Eleazar said the arrest of Carlos and the death of Edgardo Labay who yielded P28 million worth of shabu in Quezon City, would prove that the jailed drug lords still control the illegal drug trade.
“This is proof that although the drug lords are already detained, they are able to operate and push transactions by giving instructions to their henchmen outside the jail,” said Eleazar.
President Duterte’s brutal drug war has claimed thousands suspected drug pushers and users across the country, but the problem continues to persist despite the 60 percent drop of crimes in Metro Manila.
“Our drug enforcement agencies should take a deeper look as to how and why such volumes of illegal drugs enter the country and are even distributed in the heart of Metro Manila,” Eleazar said.
Eleazar said what they could do is to prevent the proliferation of shabu in the streets of Metro Manila by targeting main distributors like Carlos and Labay.
“On our part, we will continue to put pressure on these drug syndicates by arresting their couriers and distributors in the metropolis. The volume of shabu we just confiscated in our past two operations is a wake-up call,” said Eleazar.
“It tells us that the war against illegal drugs should continue to be relentless and aggressive. The war is far from over,” he added. (Aaron Recuenco)
