K9 DISCOVERY

— At least 12 packs of suspected shabu worth R81.6 million were detected by a K9 unit of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)Central Visayas during a regular inspection at a courier express company’s warehouse in Cebu on Saturday, August 15.

CEBU CITY — Packs of suspected shabu worth 181.6 million were found in a warehouse of a cargo forwarding company here.

The huge amount of illegal drugs were discovered while agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA 7) and Police Drug Enforcement Group Central Visayas (PDEG) were conducting a routine inspection of warehouses in the city on Sunday.

PDEA 7 Regional Director Levi Ortiz said as the K9 unit inspected the items of a warehouse, one of the drug-sniffing canines sat on a box.

“The dog sitting on the box was an indication that there was a contraband inside,” said Ortiz.

Three boxes were then sent to Pier 3 for X-ray inspection.

When scanned, it was found that the three boxes contained organic substance, according to Ortiz.

Further inspection showed that each of the three boxes contained a light-emitting diode (LED) spotlight.

It was later found that four big packs of suspected shabu were stuffed inside of each spotlight.

The 12 packs of suspected illegal drugs were wrapped with tea bags with Chinese markings.

Ortiz said the PDEA 7 was withholding the identities of the shipper and the consignee of the shipment pending further investigation.

The discovery of the illegal drugs in a warehouse came after a driver of a food delivery service was caught possessing a kilo of shabu worth 16.8 million.

Eranes Baltazar Jr., 40, was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Sambag 1, Cebu City last Saturday.

Ortiz said the PDEA-7 placed Baltazar under surveillance for about two weeks before he was arrested.

Baltazar denied owning the illegal drugs. He said he didn’t know that the item he was supposed to deliver contained shabu. (Calvin D. Cordova)