P264-M worth of shabu seized in Subic

At least 88 kilograms of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) were found in several computer boxes loaded in a car shipped to the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales, Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group chief Antonio Villar Jr. told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday.

Villar estimated the street value of the contraband at P264 million or P3 million per kilo.

The contraband, loaded in a Mitsubishi Outlander, arrived at 8 p.m. on Monday from Vietnam through a vessel that docked at the Subic Ship Repair Facility.

It was only at past 4 p.m. on Tuesday that operatives of the PASG and Task Force Subic, the anti-smuggling arm of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, were allowed to open the car.

The car owner, identified as Anton Ang, fled, said Villar.

Ang, a Chinese-Filipino, was also identified as the general manager of the Hua Long International Inc.

SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza described Hua Long as a locator at the Freeport and has been doing business there in the past three years. The firm imports cigarettes from China and uses the freeport as its transshipment point.

“Most probably the contraband was loaded in one of the vessels [used by the company] and [then transferred] into the car,” said Arreza.

Villar said PASG was verifying reports that the shipment could be part of an extension of the operations of the 14-K, a Hong Kong-based illegal drug syndicate.

He said this was the first time that an imported cargo containing shabu was found at the freeport. By Tonette Orejas - Central Luzon Desk