600-kg drug seizure in Valenzuela largest in joint crackdown, says China

SHANGHAI - The more than 600 kg of shabu seized in Valenzuela City last week was the largest such bust since China and the Philippines launched a cross-border crackdown on drug-smuggling, Chinese customs said on Monday.

China is the main source of methamphetamines consumed in the Philippines, which is caught in the throes of a brutal war on drugs waged by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Two people arrested in a May 12 raid on suspected smugglers told Chinese authorities they hid the drugs in five printing machines to smuggle them into the Philippines, customs officials in the coastal city of Xiamen said.

Tipped off by their Chinese counterparts, Philippine officials seized 604 kilograms (1,332 lb) of methamphetamine on May 26, Xiamen Customs said on its website.

"According to the Philippines side, this case is the largest drug trafficking bust made by the Philippines since China and Philippines launched cooperation against cross-border drug smuggling," the Xiamen officials said in the statement.

"It shows China's determination to crack down on drug smuggling."

The Philippines' Bureau of Customs said in a statement issued last Saturday that it had acted on the intelligence from Chinese customs to seize the drugs in Valenzuela City.

It valued the haul at P6.4 billion.

"Our level of effective information-sharing with China Customs Cooperation sends a strong warning to all those involved in the drugs trade," said Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.

The two nations agreed to strengthen cooperation in battling illicit drugs during Duterte's visit to China last October.

Duterte defended Beijing last year after a Reuters report quoted Philippine drug enforcement officials as saying China had done little over the years to stanch the flow of meth and its precursor chemicals. — Agence France-Presse