A PHILIPPINE Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-led anti-narcotics operation in Valenzuela City on Tuesday afternoon resulted in the arrest of a Chinese national and his Filipina contact after they conspired to sell over P1 billion worth of shabu to an undercover officer, PDEA chair Director-General Wilkins M. Villanueva said yesterday.

The official said that they were joined by officers from the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and the Valenzuela City Police in conducting the operation in Barangay Karuhatan around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

PNP chief General Dionardo B. Carlos cited the strong partnership and collaboration between the PDEA and the PNP particularly the PNP-DEG headed by Brigadier Gen. Randy Q. Peralta in making the major anti-drug accomplishments which effectively prevented plans by syndicates to flood the country with shabu which remains to be the no. 1 most abused drug in the Philippines.

Arrested during the sting in Jose P. Rizal St. in Arty Village in Bgy. Karuhatan were Chinese national Tianzhu Lyu, 33, a native of Fujian, China and his cohort Meliza Villanueva, 38, a native of Concepcion, Tarlac.

Apart from the drugs, the suspects also yielded 3 mobile phones and several identification cards. The cellphones are now being subjected to forensic analysis as part of an ongoing investigation to identify the other contacts of the duo.

“We have seized a total of P1.57 billion worth of shabu this month alone,” said Villanueva as he commended officers of the PDEA Intelligence Service and Special Enforcement Service and their National Capital Region and Region 3 offices for orchestrating the major anti-drug operation.

The PDEA chief said that last Tuesday’s operation was a follow-up to a series of successful anti-drug stings they have conducted since last week.

They include a buy-bust operation in Cavite last March 1 which led to the arrest of a “high-value target” (HVT) after he sold 2 kilograms of shabu worth P13.6 million to an undercover officer; another sting in Cavite on March 2 which resulted in the arrest of another HVT after he sold 4 kilograms of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” worth P27.2 million to a poseur; a buy-bust operation in Bulacan on the same day which led in the arrest of 4 top drug targets after they conspired to sell 60 kilograms of shabu worth P408 million to an undercover operative; a sting in Cebu City last March 3 wherein 4 HVTs were arrested for selling 200 grams of shabu worth P1.36 million to an officer; and a buy-bust operation in Escalante City in Negros Occidental last March 4 which led in the arrest of 1 suspect after he sold 5 kilos of shabu worth P34 million to a poseur.

Director-General Villanueva said those operations have resulted in the confiscation of 231.2 kilograms of shabu worth P1.57 billion.

All arrested drug trafficking suspects are now facing non-bailable charges for the sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The record drug haul came barely 6 days after combined PDEA and PNP operatives confiscated an estimated 60 kilograms of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” worth P414 million during a buy-bust operation in Marilao, Bulacan.

Arrested during the sting along Kilometer 32 in Marilao municipality 10:00 a.m. Wednesday as Jalon Supe Kaureta, a resident of Daisy Street, Green Valley, Molino 1 in Bacoor City, Cavite.

Recovered from the suspect were the huge volume of shabu and a Toyota Altis said the PDEA chief.

Members of the PDEA Intelligence Service and Region 4 office, the PNP-DEG Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), and the NICA arrested the suspect in Bulacan.

Villanueva said that from July 1, 2016 to last January 31, government law enforcement agents led by the PDEA and the PNP now under General Dionardo B. Carlos have arrested and jailed a total of 14,389 HVTs.

The jailed HVTs include 352 foreign nationals, 396 elected officials, 126 uniformed personnel, 522 government employees, 3,989 “target-listed” drug personalities, 797 drug group leaders/members, 75 armed group members, 1,598 drug den maintainers, 291 wanted listed personalities, 24 celebrities/Professional Regulations Commission license holders, and 6,319 others who were arrested as a result of high-impact operations.

During the period in review, government agents have accounted for P75.35 billion worth of prohibited drugs including 9.83 kilograms of shabu valued at P63.22 billion.

Law enforcement agents have also smashed 1,008 secret drug dens and 18 shabu clandestine laboratories during the period, according to Villanueva.