A day after raiding a “shabu” (crystal meth) laboratory in Batangas, operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday swooped down on a Malabon warehouse—located just meters away from a public elementary school—allegedly being used to manufacture meth and ecstasy. The raid was a follow-up operation to the discovery of a shabu and ecstasy laboratory in Sto. PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said that while there were no “finished products” seized in the Malabon laboratory, agents discovered large quantities of safrole, a key ingredient in ecstasy production; suspected ecstasy tablets, assorted chemicals and several drug equipment. Chinese national nabbedChinese national Jiang Minshan, who allegedly oversaw the laboratory’s operations, and his driver Lauro Santiago were also collared during Friday’s operations. According to Aquino, the Malabon warehouse was being used as an “test run” location for the production of illegal drugs before they were transferred to the Batangas farm.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 13, 2018 21:33 UTC