Chemicals for shabu seized

A few hours after a clandestine shabu laboratory was raided in San Juan City, police swooped down on a building in Pasig City Thursday leading to the recovery of about 30 kilos of chemicals allegedly used to produce shabu. Armed with a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Danilo Cruz of Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 152, police operatives raided a building at No. 34, Sta. Rosa Street, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig, at around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Eastern Police District director Chief Supt. Bernabe Balba said in a text message that they are investigating if the recovered chemicals inside several plastic bags and canister were used to make shabu. Senior Supt. Rizalito Gapas, Pasig City Police chief, said they still cannot tell if the chemicals recovered were connected to the discovered shabu laboratory in a posh subdivision in San Juan City at around 7:30 a.m. on the same day. Police earlier said the clandestine shabu laboratory in San Juan City could produce at least ₱600 million worth of illegal drugs every month. “We still cannot say [that it is connected]...It is still under investigation,” Gapas said in Filipino. Gapas said the target of the operation, whose name was withheld by the police, was not in the area when the warrant was implemented. “Only the caretaker and the security guard were there,” he said. Gapas said that the caretaker and the guard denied having any knowledge of the chemicals present in the building. “But we are also going to investigate them,” Gapas added. The chemicals are now in the crime laboratory for identification and classification, police said.