A composite team led by the National Capital Region Police Office seized 30 kilos of shabu worth P204 million at a suspected drug warehouse in Pasig City Monday night.
The police operation also resulted in the arrest of Manolito Lugo Carlos, alias “Lito” and “Tonge”, allegedly a drug trafficker connected to big-time drug dealers now serving jail terms at the New Bilibid Prison.
The NCRPO Drug Enforcement Unit, in coordination with the Eastern Police District and Pasig City Police Station, swooped down Unit 416 of Building M2 of Sorrento Oasis Residences along Raymundo Avenue in Barangay Rosario around 7:40 p.m. and found 30 sealed Chinese Tea packs containing shabu.
The authorities came up with the anti-drug operation based on a search warrant issued by Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 152 Executive Judge Danilo Cruz.
Metro Manila police director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the police operation stemmed from the result of casing and surveillance conducted by his men against the suspect who rented and used the place as the warehouse of illegal drugs.
“Our operatives found 30 big plastic packs of Chinese Tea. However, upon opening a few bags, they discovered that the packs contained white crystalline substance, which was later admitted by the suspect to be the illegal substance, shabu,” said Eleazar, adding that each plastic pack contained a kilo of shabu.
The authorities also confiscated drug paraphernalia and different bank deposit slips from the condominium unit.
Eleazar said the suspect was a “High-Value Target” and a member of an organized gang engaged in the illegal drug trade operating in Metro Manila, and Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog regions.
“In 2000, Carlos was previously arrested and charged before the Court of Mandaluyong City for illegal drug case. However, he was acquitted but opted to involve himself again in the distribution and sale of shabu,” he said.
Eleazar also revealed that Carlos was also connected to the neutralized suspect during the buy-bust operation in Quezon City last Sunday.
“They are a couple of contacts or distributors of illegal drugs being utilized by drug lords who are convicted in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. 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,” the NCRPO chief said.
Carlos is now detained at the NCRPO-DEU office in Taguig City while the seized drugs were turned over and subjected for technical examination before the PNP Crime Laboratory Office.
The suspect will be charged with violation of Section 5 and 11 of Republic SAct 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002), RA 10591 (Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition) before the Pasig City prosecutors office.
Eleazar commended his men for the latest accomplishment. “So far, this is one of our biggest operations.”
He gave assurances the NCRPO would continue the case build-up against other drug personalities.
“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. On our part, we will continue to put pressure on these drug syndicates by arresting their couriers and distributors in the metropolis,” said Eleazar.
He added the volume of drugs confiscated in their two previous operations is a wake-up call. “It tells us that the war against illegal drugs should continue to be relentless and aggressive. The war is far from over.