A PDEA chemist inspects suspected shabu under the custody of PDEA 4-B in Calapan City. (Jerry Alcayde)
CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor C. Remulla Jr. on Friday said a Chinese woman is now the subject of a police manhunt after she was identified as the alleged leader of the group involved in the smuggling of suspected shabu worth P5.8 billion in Occidental Mindoro last Tuesday.
The Philippine Army recovered 43 sacks of shabu from a twin-engine speedboat that ran aground in Sitio Agbalite, Barangay Harisson, Paluan, Occidental Mindoro.
Remulla said the suspect bought the speedboat in Subic and arranged the house rental of two Chinese and their Filipino cohorts.
The DILG chief did not divulge further details about the suspect as pursuit and follow-up operations are underway.
Remulla said that the syndicate may have been operating for at least a year now.
Their modus involved the unloading of contraband in high seas to be picked up later by smaller speed boats.
Police said two barangay officials reported the presence of the speedboat to the 76th Infantry Battalion detachment in an adjacent sitio.
Army and Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary arrived in the area and two Chinese ran toward a forested area to evade arrest.
They were apprehended and confiscated from them were a global satellite cellphone, Starlink modem, batteries, and safety gears.
After almost an hour, authorities arrested two Filipinos on board another rubber boat which was seen in the area near the speedboat.
Remulla said the shabu was placed in rice sacks with markings indicating they came from Vietnam.
PDEA chemists confirmed that the substance is shabu with more than 90 percent purity.
Shabu has a street value of P7,000 per gram, Remulla said.
The DILG Secretary admitted that the problem on illegal drugs is not yet fully solved but stressed that they are threading the path in solving it gradually.
“What is important is that we managed to resolve the problem on drugs without resorting to killing anyone,” Remulla told Mindoro-based media during a press briefing on Friday at the regional headquarters of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Calapan City.