90 foreigners arrested in PHL for drugs since 2003

Government authorities have arrested 90 foreigners for drug manufacturing and trafficking in the last eight years, or an average of about 11 every year since 2003, according to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, in a statement on Tuesday, said of the 90 arrested foreign drug suspects, 81 remain in detention, of which 77 have pending cases while four have already been convicted. Sourced from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the DILG released the data a week after Robredo ordered an intensified campaign against illegal recruiters and drug traffickers following the execution of three Filipino drug couriers in China last week. “We have an urgent directive from the President to go after local and foreign syndicates who recruit our nationals to be drug mules or couriers and at the same time intensify our campaign against big-time drug syndicates who manufacture, distribute, and sell illegal drugs in the country," Robredo said. He added that the PNP’s anti-drug units are working closely with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure a successful prosecution of the detained individuals and out-on-bail suspects. Of the 90 arrested drug suspects, 72 are Chinese, nine are Taiwanese, four are Malaysians, two are Singaporeans, as well as a British, a Korean, and a Macau national. Among the convicted drug manufacturers were Chinese nationals Lan Yan and Li Tan Hua, who were arrested at their rented house in Parañaque City in July 2003 for manufacturing 163 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu. Two more convicted Chinese nationals were Carlos Sy and Shi Jin Sheng, who were arrested in Davao City in 2004 for maintaining and operating a shabu laboratory. Since 2003, the biggest recorded drug haul was in Mambugan, Antipolo City, where authorities arrested four Chinese nationals and confiscated P1,108 kilogram of shabu and other items used in manufacturing illegal drugs. Other large-scale arrests happened in Lipa, Batangas in 2006 with 712 kg of shabu seized; and Mandaue City in Cebu in 2004 with 275 kg seized. Those arrested in the Manadaue anti-drug operations were four Chinese, two Taiwanese, two Malaysians, and a British national, who were all allegedly members of an international drug ring operating in Southeast Asia. — KBK, GMA News