CANDELARIA, Zambales — Elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police recovered on Tuesday some P3.4-billion worth of illegal drugs after swooping down in a beach resort here following a buy-bust operation.

Three Chinese nation were killed in the ensuing firefight at about 11:30 a.m. after authorities cornered them at Noah’s Place, a seaside property at Barangay Libertador, that was reportedly used as a warehouse for illegal drugs picked up from the sea.

The joint operation yielded some 500 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, which is popularly known as shabu. These were wrapped in sealed one-kilo packages and placed inside blue jute sacks with Thai inscriptions.

The Chinese nationals killed during the raid were identified as Gao Manzhu, 49; Hong Jianshe, 58; Eddie Tan, 60, who were all from Fujian, China; and Xu Youhua, 50, who had an address at Stanford Ville, Quezon City. Police said they were members of a drug syndicate operating in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

In a press conference, PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said that the suspects were members of a drug syndicate operating in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

“Ito ay napakagandang araw para sa ating campaign against illegal drugs dahil sa pinagsanib na pwersa ng PDEA, at kasama ang PNP at iba pa mga tumulong na units sa napakagandang accomplishment against illegal drugs,” Eleazar said.

PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva, meanwhile, said this is so far the biggest drug haul this year.

Last year, an operation in Marilao, Bulacan yielded some 800 kilograms of shabu worth PHP5 billion.

Villanueva said the Candelaria raid was part of the continuous follow-up operation against those involved in last year’s operation in Bulacan. He added that the operation was a result of a long surveillance operation on Xu, who is tagged as among the key players of illegal drug activities in the country.

Villanueva said the illegal drugs were smuggled into the country through the international waters and then transported near the coastal waters to be picked up by the local illegal drugs distributor.

“We have been working on this operation for more than three months and for the last few weeks, Xu’s activities have been really heavy and so we conducted a buy-bust this morning,” Villanueva said.

“We still have a pursuit operation from here. This is not the end of our tough campaign against illegal drugs because we still have to pursue other syndicates,” he added.

P544-M SHABU INTERCEPTED IN SUBIC

Meanwhile, a total of 80 kilos of shabu worth P544 million was seized by authorities in the Subic Bay Freeport from three Chinese nationals following the buy-bust operation in Candelaria.

According to a report by PDEA, the three Chinese nationals were arrested during an interdiction operation at the Tipo Gate of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The suspects were identified as Qing Chang Zhou, aka Ricky Chou, 37 years old; Cai Cai Bin, aka James/ Joseph Chua, 49; and Longcai Chang, 45, all residents of Metro-Manila.

Aside from the 80 kilos of shabu, operatives also confiscated from the suspects a maroon Mitsubishi Montero with plate No. NDO 6824, a black Toyota Land Cruiser with plate no. UOF 567, an Android phone, and an analog phone.

The follow-up operation was conducted by PDEA with the PNP, Bureau of Customs (BOC), and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Law Enforcement Department (SBMA-LED) and Intelligence and Investigation Office (SBMA-IIO). ~