P300M worth of drugs seized, 'drug queen' falls in two raids

Government anti-drug operatives on Friday seized at least P300 million worth of ephedrine, a principal precursor in the manufacture of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), following a raid in Bulacan province north of Manila. In a separate operation in the capital Friday, a suspected female drug operator of a shabu tiangge (flea market) earlier busted by anti-drug operatives in Pasig City, was nabbed in her hideout in Pinagbuhatan village. Nabbed was one Zenaida Cuyug, who was arrested based on a warrant issued by Judge Reynaldo Ros of the Manila regional trial court branch 33. In the Bulacan raid, operatives from the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and regional police said the seized ephedrine were placed inside three travel bags. No arrests were made when operatives swooped down on a townhouse in Turo village in Bocaue town. Regional police director Chief Supt. Ismael Rafanan said the townhouse could have been just a depository of the seized materials prior to its delivery to a shabu factory. At the Pasig City raid, AIDSOTF operatives said they seized from Cuyug’s hideout a Magnum 22 handgun, 10 grams of shabu and marijuana leaves. In February, anti-drug operatives raided a shabu flea market at the Mapayapa compound in Sto. Tomas village, Pasig City and arrested about 179 people, some of them minors. Charges of gross negligence and dereliction of duty against village chieftain Jesus Viray, whom city Mayor Vicente Eusebio earlier suspended for his failure to stop illegal drug trafficking in his area. City police chief Senior Supt. Raul Medina and members of the Eastern District anti-illegal drugs team were also sacked for their failure to detect the "shabu market." - GMANews.TV