Philippines nabs drug kingpin in largest bust this year

MANILA: Philippine authorities have seized 160 kg of methamphetamine and arrested a Chinese drug kingpin, police said on Wednesday, in the country’s biggest anti-narcotics operation this year.

The buy-bust at a warehouse in Valenzuela City in metropolitan Manila on Tuesday was part of the government’s renewed crackdown on illegal drugs.

Since the beginning of March, law enforcers have conducted seven operations, arrested 11 suspects, and confiscated 231 kg of methamphetamine worth 1.57 billion pesos ($30 million), according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

The methamphetamine seized from the Chinese suspect and his Filipina companion on Tuesday is estimated to be worth more than $19.6 million.

“Intensified operation against high-value drug personalities yielded in the confiscation of P1.088 Billion Pesos ($19.6 million) worth of shabu and the arrest of a Chinese national big-time drug dealer and one Filipina cohort,” the Philippine National Police said in a statement.

The suspects, identified as Tianzhu Lyu and Meliza Villanueva, are “well-known drug dealers in the areas of NCR,” police said, referring to the National Capital Region.

Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Wilkins Villanueva told reporters on Tuesday evening that Lyu was a suspected member of a Chinese drug syndicate called “The Company,” which operates in Southeast Asia.

He said the arrest followed an “intensive human intelligence operation.”

“We really worked hard on this,” he said, adding that the latest arrest was the result of a series of earlier operations that started on March 1.

The crackdown on illegal drugs comes as President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been carrying out a controversial and deadly “war on drugs” campaign since 2016, will complete his term in June.

One of Duterte’s main electoral promises was to eradicate illegal drugs from the country within months of taking office.