‘Floating Shabu Lab’ Seized in Subic Bay

Subic, Zambales — Police operatives raided and seized a suspected floating shabu laboratory disguised as a fishing vessel and arrested four Chinese crews on-board while entering Subic Bay in Barangay Calapandayan this municipality.

PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, with Subic Mayor Jay Khonghun, led operatives from the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group and boarded the vessel while it was cruising between Subic Freeport and Barangay Calapandayan in the town of Subic before Monday midnight.

Khonghun, over local radio station Brigada News FM, said that authorities began suspecting about the real use of the vessel after they found it very clean and “fresh.”

Suspicions proved to be true after the recovery inside the vessel almost a half kilo of suspected shabu worth PHP2.2 million, and the discovery of a shabu manufacturing equipment which is capable of producing at least 25 kilos of shabu a day.

Authorities, however, believed that the recovered illegal drugs were merely a tiny part of the produced drugs that were already picked-up by local contacts in Cagayan, Pangasinan and Subic while the vessel is in the open seas.

The arrested, one of them is a chemist, were identified as Shu Fook Leung, Kwok Tung Chan, Wing Fai Lo and Kam Wah Kwok, all Chinese nationals from Hong Kong, and allegedly arrived in the Philippines seven days ago on board a Cathay Pacific plane.

It was not revealed, however, how and where they boarded the boat.

Khonghun noted that police intelligence network monitored the movement of the fishing vessel from Hong Kong until it entered the country and docked in Cagayan, sailed to Ilocos and later to Pangasinan until it was monitored entering Subic Bay.

It is also said that it was the second time that the shabu floating laboratory was reported seen in the Philippines, the first was in 2013.

Meanwhile, Khonghun said that the discovery of the floating shabu laboratory was made possible through the help of local fishermen and arrested suspected shabu users who informed the local police that “something” was happening inside the boat while it is at sea.

In August 2013, police anti-narcotics operatives arrested six suspects and the seizure of about 400 kilos of shabu worth PHP2 billion in a rented house in Sta. Monica Subdivision, in this town.

In May and June 2008, then Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group based in Subic Bay Freeport seized more than 750 kilograms of high-grade shabu, with a street value of PHP5.5 billion, entered into the area using two super-high speed boats from Vietnam and Taiwan. (PNA) BNB/ZST/RAV/PS