Pubdate: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 Source: Manila Times (Philippines) Copyright: 2005, The Manila Times Contact: http://www.manilatimes.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/921 Author: Anthony Vargas Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines SHABU NOW PRODUCED FROM MINI LABS-PNP DRUG syndicates behind the operation of clandestine shabu laboratories have shifted to smaller, less-traceable guerrilla-type operations to avoid detection, a ranking police official said Friday. This was uncovered after antidrug agents seized four gallons of ephedrine, which can produce at least four kilos of high-grade shabu worth P8 million, in a raid in San Fernando, Pampanga. The ephedrine, which is the key ingredient in making shabu, was confiscated from the P26-million Model House 3 on Coconut Street at the Hacienda Royale Subdivision in Barangay Lara, San Fernando. The house is owned by one Jaime Tan. Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon, chief of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force, said drug syndicates "are no longer keen in operating large shabu laboratories" because of the success of the government's antidrug campaign. "[Instead drug syndicates] have shifted to small-scale operation using small laboratories that they can easily disassemble and move to another place," de Leon said. He said drug syndicates operate mini laboratories set up inside small areas or houses so they can easily be concealed. A disadvantage of using a small laboratory, he said, is that drug syndicates are unable to produce high-grade shabu, or methamphetamine hydrochloride. He explained that cramped quarters, with a little room to manufacture shabu, don't promote the production of shabu to match the quality produced in larger laboratories. "Their end product is no longer of high quality and this could be the reason why, based on reports we are receiving, shabu supply in the market is now diluted," de Leon said. Early Thursday morning combined agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the PNP raided a house in a posh subdivision in Paranaque City. The house, located at 8 Joy Street, Multinational Village, yielded a mini-shabu lab in one of its rooms and agents have seized chemicals and almost four kilos of finished product of shabu. The police have taken into their custody a woman who is said to be the girlfriend of the mini-lab operator identified as Jacky Yuen, who was able to escape after his wife revealed what was inside the house. The PDEA chief, Undersecretary Anselmo Avenido Jr., said that this is the fifth shabu laboratory to be discovered inside the subdivision. --with Dino Balabo - ---