NBI raid in Caloocan nets P6B worth of chemicals

(UPDATE) Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation-Special Action Unit raided on Friday a suspected shabu laboratory in Caloocan City, finding chemicals estimated to be worth P6 billion, and equipment used in making prohibited substances. QTV’s Balitanghali reported that severals drums containing chloroform, sodium hydroxide, acetone, and phosphoric acid as well as equipment used in manufacturing shabu were stored in a compound with high perimeter fence at the corner of 4th Ave. and P. Sevilla St, West Grace Park, Caloocan City. At posting time, NBI probers were still doing an inventory of the chemicals and equipment seized. But NBI director Nestor Mantaring placed the value of the substances used for making shabu at P6 billion worth. The NBI raided the place after receiving a tip that deliveries of chemicals and equipment to the compound began in November 2006 yet. The items were said to have come from China and intended for the illegal drugs trade of the Hong Kong triad in the Philippines. Robert Lee, James Smith and Eric Diaz, reportedly the persons behind the shabu manufacturing operations, are now the subject of a police manhunt, according to NBI special investigator Isaac Cardeso. The men reportedly rented the compound from its owner, identified as Juanito Cardenas. He, too, was not around when the NBI team came. Upon learning of the raid, Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri, asked the NBI and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to dig deeper into the operation of the clandestine shabu laboratory in the city. He said he wanted to know the identity of the real owner of the building as well as the persons maintaining the shabu laboratory. He said the names given to the NBI could not be their real names. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV