Shabu lab discovered inside Ayala Alabang

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. identified the suspects as Ken Ming Chao, 49, alias Lam Tse Kin; his brother Lam Ka Chun, 51; Kowk Chi Keung, 42; and twins Choi Yiu Kit and Choi Yiu Chun, both 33.

Gutierrez said the five were arrested inside the drug lab in a gated and high-walled compound on Acacia Avenue, Ayala Alabang.

PDEA Public Information Chief Evangeline Almenario said some of the suspects tried to escape but were caught by the agents.

Inside the lab were grams of shabu, controlled precursors, essential chemicals, and lab equipment.

Gutierrez said the lab that can produce 10 kilograms of shabu per cycle. Almenario explained that one production cycle usually takes two to three days.

Almenario said intelligence reports indicated that the drug syndicate to which the suspects belong had been moving around until Ken Ming Chao rented the compound in July.

She said that the compound includes a main house, two storehouses and a swimming pool.

Almenario said the syndicate pays around P260,000 per month as rent for the property.

Almenario withheld the identity of the property owner while agents find out if he knew what was going on there.

Following the raid in Ayala-Alabang, the Muntinlupa city government is studying an ordinance that will provide the police easy access to exclusive subdivisions in the city after a search warrant is issued by a court.

Mayor Aldrin San Pedro said he has instructed the Office of the City Attorney to come up with a proposed ordinance to immediately implement any search warrant.

He said the implementation of a search warrant is being delayed because security guards in exclusive villages and subdivisions prevent the police or any security force of the city from getting in.

He said any security officer that will prevent law enforcement officers from entering the subdivision to carry out the search warrant will result in the cancellation of the permit of the security agency concerned.

Police Senior Supt. Ramiro Bausa, Muntinlupa police chief, echoed the mayor’s sentiment regarding the restricted access of the police to exclusive villages