The Bureau of Customs (BOC), Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP), ESS, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) on Friday raided a shabu laboratory in Caloocan City where they seized liquid meth, shabu ingredients, chemicals, and other paraphernalia.
The composite team raided the laboratory located at A. Mabini St., cor C-3, Maypajo, Caloocan City to implement Letter of Authority (LOA) 03-11-022-2022 signed by the Customs Commissioner, as well as Mission Order No. (MO) 03-11-2022-134.
The owners or representatives of the laboratory will face cases related to violations of Sec. 8, Article II of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The cases are now being prepared for direct filing.
Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service Director Jeoffrey Tacio said that the March 11 operation was a follow-up to the buybust operation last March 8 when the joint team first apprehended illegal drugs manufactured in the laboratory.
Tacio also disclosed that the discovery of the clandestine laboratory stemmed from a close cooperation and case build-up led by PDEA’s Intelligence and Investigation Service under Dir. Adrian Alvarino.
“Successful operations such as these wouldn’t be possible without the close coordination between other law enforcement agencies,” he added.
The CIIS and PDEA seized several pieces of evidence against the operators of the laboratory.
They found liquid meth, which tested positive as illegal drugs after immediately being identified by a chemist from PDEA.
According to PDEA, the clandestine laboratories in Caloocan City can produce three kilos of shabu a day and has been operating for more than a year.
No suspects were apprehended during the raid, but several individuals suspected to be involved in the operation of the shabu lab were already nabbed last week.
A team from BOC CIIS, PDEA, the police, and the military arrested suspects Tianzhu Lyu from Fujian, China and Meliza Villanueva from Concepcion, Tarlac in Valenzuela City.
With them were more or less 160 kilos of shabu worth more than P1 billion.
Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Raniel Ramiro said the bureau will continue to investigate the presence of small-scale shabu laboratories in the country to put a stop to the domestic production of illegal drugs and other substances in the country.
“While we protect our borders from the entry of drugs and any products used for its production, it is high time that we also eliminate the small-scale domestic production of shabu and any other drugs that these criminals peddle on the streets,” he said.