By HENRY EMPEÑO | Subic Bay Freeport 

LAW enforcement agencies pounced on suspects in the illegal drug trade in a series of operations here since Wednesday, arresting six Chinese nationals and three others and seizing prohibited drugs worth about P8.2 million.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the arrests were made possible with close coordination among police units, drug enforcement agents, and operatives of the SBMA Law Enforcement Department (SBMA-LED) and the SBMA Intelligence and Investigation Office (SBMA-IIO) who staked out the suspects in three separate raids.

The biggest operation was successfully carried out on Thursday night, when six Chinese nationals were caught while attempting to leave the Subic Bay Freeport with about one kilo of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, which is considered to be the poor man’s cocaine in the country.

An initial report from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said a team of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group(PNP-HPG)  led by Capt. Mark Abaja  flagged down the suspects at the Tipo Gate here because their vehicle had no validating sticker, and that the driver was not wearing seatbelt.

Further inspection of the vehicle, a Nissan Xtrail with license plates XTP 513, however, yielded more or less a kilogram of shabu worth P6,800,000;  a calibre .45 pistol with one magazine containing seven live ammunition;  11 units of cellular phone, various ID cards, passports, and bank deposit slips.

PDEA identified the suspects as Jiang Peng, Liu Qiao Zhi, Huang Du, Pingxing Chen, Fayong Xia, and Fan Sheng Jian. Identification cards seized from the suspects showed that Pingxing Chen was connected to a Pasay City-based company, allegedly as site supervisor, while the others were variously from Sichuan, Fujian, and Hubei provinces in China.

A source from the SBMA-IIO said the suspects were under monitoring by a composite team of PNP-HPG and SBMA law enforcers as early as 6:30 p.m. on Thursday before they were intercepted at the Tipo security plaza at past 7:00 p.m.

Aside from the Nissan SUV, two other vehicles were also monitored that day, a white Toyota Hi-Ace van and a white Toyota Alphard minivan, but these were not found, the source added.

Following an inventory of the contraband seized, PDEA agents loaded the suspects into a van for further investigation at the PDEA regional office in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Just hours before the six Chinese nationals were held at the Subic gate, the Olongapo City police arrested another drug suspect in a buy-bust operation in front of the Royal Choices duty-free shop here.

Police said the suspect, identified as Oliver De Jesus y Taylar, single, 28 years old, and residing at San Ramon, Dinalupihan, Bataan, sold a heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet containing suspected shabu to a poseur-buyer at 12:10 p.m.

Police thereafter seized from De Jesus 12 different-sized heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing suspected shabu with an approximate combined weight of 180 grams, which were placed in an Oppo A5s cellphone box. The stash had a total street value of about P1 million, the police said.

On Wednesday night, two other suspected drug pushers were arrested after selling shabu to a poseur-buyer at the parking lot of a former vehicle conversion yard along the Maritan Highway here.

The suspects were identified as Eliseo Soliman y Dela Cruz, male, 32 y/o, single and a resident of #1024 Clark St., Sta. Rita, Olongapo City; and Angelito Bamba Jr. y Reyes, male, 31 y/o and presently residing at #1 Lapu-lapu St., East Bajac-bajac, Olongapo City.

The suspects, who are said to be in the police drug watch list, also had three sachets of suspected shabu worth P40,000.

Shabu, which is a powerfully addictive stimulant, is said to be the most abused drug in the country today because of accessibility and affordability.  ~