The three Taiwanese nationals arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in raids of shabu laboratories in Las Piñas and Parañaque cities last Tuesday have been charged before the Department of Justice on Thursday. The combined raids yielded P1.5 billion worth of shabu since President Rodrigo Duterte declared war on illegal drugs shortly after his administration took over on June 30, 2016.
The PDEA brought Tsai Shih-Ming, Cheng Kuo-chuan and Lin Chun Ming to the DoJ for inquest proceedings for charges of violations of Republic Act 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Tsai and Cheng were specifically charged with manufacture, possession and use of illegal drugs. The authorities arrested them at a house turned into a shabu laboratory at Philamlife Village in Las Piñas.
Lin, who was nabbed in a succeeding raid in another shabu laboratory in BF Homes in Parañaque, was charged with conspiracy and possession of illegal drugs.
Arresting agents of PDEA-National Capital Region filed the charges before investigating prosecutors under the DoJ task force on illegal drugs.
All three Taiwanese nationals refused to answer the charges against them, prompting prosecutors to submit the complaints for resolution upon submission by PDEA agents of evidence seized from the respondents during the raids.
In two referral-complaints, the PDEA said its operatives seized shabu, boxes of liquid meth and assorted laboratory equipment during the raid in Las Piñas City, while the raid in Parañaque City yielded 24 balikbayan boxes of ephedrine powder, the main ingredient in manufacturing shabu.
The anti-narcotics agents said they seized 347 kilograms of shabu with an estimated street value of P1.7 billion.
Tsai and Cheng were arrested last July 5 at Las Piñas house, which is situated next to the subdivision’s guardhouse, where authorities confiscated 46.85 grams of shabu and 263.08 grams of brownish substance with traces of shabu.