P2-B shabu seized, 2 foreign drug pushers killed in Cavite buy-bust
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2019 11:52:59 +0000
Government anti-narcotics agents killed two suspected foreign drug traffickers and seized some 274 kilos of shabu with a street value of P1.9 billion in a buy-bust operation Sunday in Tanza, Cavite.
Director General Aaron Aquino, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, identified the two slain suspects as Vincent Du Lim and Hong Li Wen. Also seized from them were a .45 pistol and a 9mm pistol.
Aquino said the operation started when his men were able to contact the suspects for the purchase of a kilo of shabu. “What they did is to instruct my men, who acted as poseur-buyers, to go directly to their area. And this led to this successful operation,” said Aquino.
He explained that since it was Sunday, there were no available drug couriers that would sell the illegal drugs to the PDEA poseur-buyers – the reason why they instructed the undercover agents to go directly to their place on Antero Soriano Highway in Barangay Amaya 1.
When the PDEA agents proceeded to the area, they were able to see the two slain Chinese repacking a huge quantity of shabu. The PDEA agents sought the assistance of other law enforcement agencies.
Instead of peacefully surrendering to the raiding team, the two suspects elected to fight it out with the authorities and a shootout ensued.
“There were only two suspects because maybe it’s Sunday and the other workers were not around. They fought off and they were killed during the operation,” said Aquino.
MAP of Tanza, Cavite
“It’s a warehouse being used as a repacking area,” said Aquino in describing the area where the operation was conducted.
The top PDEA official said that the area is an ideal place for repacking due to its proximity to Metro Manila. “Why Cavite? Because of the proximity of Cavite to Metro Manila where their distribution and transactions is easier,” said Aquino.
Aquino suspected that the illegal drugs was sneaked into the country through what he described as shipside smuggling in which international syndicate would drop the illegal drugs in the high seas using big cargo ships. The illegal drugs would then be picked up by smaller vessels, which, in turn, would transport the illegal drugs to the warehouse.
In this case, Aquino said the drop-off from big ships appeared to be off the waters of the Ilocos region. It was then transported to the warehouse in Tanza.
Aquino said that international drugs syndicate appeared to be forced to use the shipside smuggling since they are now having difficulty smuggling drugs into ports.
The operation bolstered suspicions that another batch of shabu shipment had sneaked into the country since the two slain Chinese were repacking shabu when authorities chanced upon them. (Aaron Recuenco and Chito Chavez)