Subic a ‘consolidation point for drugs’
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator Armand Arreza has expressed concern that this freeport has become a “consolidation point” for international drug syndicates operating in Asia, following the seizure of 770 kilograms of shabu here this week.
Arreza said the drug haul, worth P4.6 billion, was “the largest [discovery] in the freeport zone.”
“I was very surprised. This is shocking…Before, we would only find packs of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) hidden in container vans…With this much shabu, whoever is responsible can supply the whole country,” said Arreza.
Arreza however said he did not believe the entire shipment was meant for the Philippine underground market alone.
“Some, if not most of this shipment, we suspect, will be taken out of the country. It (boxes containing shabu found in the Hua Long International warehouse here) would have been immediately taken out of the freeport entirely if the smugglers did not intend to bring it somewhere else,” Arreza said.
“The freeport is just being used by those involved as a consolidation point,” he added.
The suspect, Anthony “Anton” Ang, general manager of Hua Long International, a cigarette importer doing business in the freeport since 2004, had tried to bring out boxes unloaded by a Taiwan-registered vessel that came from Vietnam at the Riviera pier here on Sunday.
Ang was held by operatives of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and Task Force Subic briefly to inspect the contents of the boxes loaded in the Mitsubishi Outlander. Ang, however, refused saying he would produce documents showing that the cargo was legal.
He returned the following day but again failed to show documents. He fled after trying to bribe operatives with P50 million in exchange for releasing the cargo that he said contained “sensitive computer parts.”
On Tuesday, when PASG and TFS agents opened the boxes, they found packs of shabu inside. In follow-up operations on Wednesday, the agents found the bulk of the illegal drugs in Hua Long’s warehouse here.
PASG agents and police said Ang and his family had left their house in Barangay West Bajac Bajac in Olongapo City.
Though the captain and crewmembers of the vessel FB Shun Fa Xing escaped, Arreza said the SBMA was monitoring other vessels associated with Hua Long.
“We are also looking into the list of vessels that Hua Long had used in the past. If any of these vessels return, then we will investigate them,” he said.
PASG chief Antonio Villar Jr. said the PASG and the police have started a manhunt against Ang.
“PASG is coordinating with the Philippine National Police and Interpol. We’ve asked the Bureau of Immigration [to issue] hold departure orders,” Villar told the Inquirer.
Villar said the PASG’s initial investigation showed that a Bureau of Customs’ personnel in Subic, Romulo Labrosca, signed the ship’s documents and declared it “NILCARGO.”
“This meant that there was no cargo on board. Labrosca also wrote in his remarks that the ship had ‘no dangerous cargo on board,’” Villar said.
“We are assuming that Labrosca signed the ship’s documents after inspecting it. We suspect that there are people in high places behind this,” said Villar.
He said PASG also investigated Hua Long’s operations manager, Enrique Ong, and Rolando Labandero, the driver of the rented van where the 660 kg of shabu was found. The van was parked in the firm’s warehouse.
Villar said both denied involvement in Ang’s activities.
“[Ong] didn’t know the shabu was hidden in the warehouse. He didn’t know what Ang, his boss, was up to,” said Villar.
But Villar said the call logs in the mobile phones of Ong and Labandero showed that they were placing calls to and receiving calls from Ang.
Labandero said Ang had called him to monitor the cargo. He insisted he did not know that it contained shabu.
Villar said PASG would file charges against both men once its legal team has established their responsibility. By Robert Gonzaga - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Arreza said the drug haul, worth P4.6 billion, was “the largest [discovery] in the freeport zone.”
“I was very surprised. This is shocking…Before, we would only find packs of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) hidden in container vans…With this much shabu, whoever is responsible can supply the whole country,” said Arreza.
Arreza however said he did not believe the entire shipment was meant for the Philippine underground market alone.
“Some, if not most of this shipment, we suspect, will be taken out of the country. It (boxes containing shabu found in the Hua Long International warehouse here) would have been immediately taken out of the freeport entirely if the smugglers did not intend to bring it somewhere else,” Arreza said.
“The freeport is just being used by those involved as a consolidation point,” he added.
The suspect, Anthony “Anton” Ang, general manager of Hua Long International, a cigarette importer doing business in the freeport since 2004, had tried to bring out boxes unloaded by a Taiwan-registered vessel that came from Vietnam at the Riviera pier here on Sunday.
Ang was held by operatives of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and Task Force Subic briefly to inspect the contents of the boxes loaded in the Mitsubishi Outlander. Ang, however, refused saying he would produce documents showing that the cargo was legal.
He returned the following day but again failed to show documents. He fled after trying to bribe operatives with P50 million in exchange for releasing the cargo that he said contained “sensitive computer parts.”
On Tuesday, when PASG and TFS agents opened the boxes, they found packs of shabu inside. In follow-up operations on Wednesday, the agents found the bulk of the illegal drugs in Hua Long’s warehouse here.
PASG agents and police said Ang and his family had left their house in Barangay West Bajac Bajac in Olongapo City.
Though the captain and crewmembers of the vessel FB Shun Fa Xing escaped, Arreza said the SBMA was monitoring other vessels associated with Hua Long.
“We are also looking into the list of vessels that Hua Long had used in the past. If any of these vessels return, then we will investigate them,” he said.
PASG chief Antonio Villar Jr. said the PASG and the police have started a manhunt against Ang.
“PASG is coordinating with the Philippine National Police and Interpol. We’ve asked the Bureau of Immigration [to issue] hold departure orders,” Villar told the Inquirer.
Villar said the PASG’s initial investigation showed that a Bureau of Customs’ personnel in Subic, Romulo Labrosca, signed the ship’s documents and declared it “NILCARGO.”
“This meant that there was no cargo on board. Labrosca also wrote in his remarks that the ship had ‘no dangerous cargo on board,’” Villar said.
“We are assuming that Labrosca signed the ship’s documents after inspecting it. We suspect that there are people in high places behind this,” said Villar.
He said PASG also investigated Hua Long’s operations manager, Enrique Ong, and Rolando Labandero, the driver of the rented van where the 660 kg of shabu was found. The van was parked in the firm’s warehouse.
Villar said both denied involvement in Ang’s activities.
“[Ong] didn’t know the shabu was hidden in the warehouse. He didn’t know what Ang, his boss, was up to,” said Villar.
But Villar said the call logs in the mobile phones of Ong and Labandero showed that they were placing calls to and receiving calls from Ang.
Labandero said Ang had called him to monitor the cargo. He insisted he did not know that it contained shabu.
Villar said PASG would file charges against both men once its legal team has established their responsibility. By Robert Gonzaga - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Labels: Armand C. Arreza, pasg, pdea, sbma, shabu, subic bay freeport
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