Philippine police seize large stash of drugs in tea bags

Philippine police seize large stash of drugs in tea bags
Police officers inspect tea bags containing suspected methamphetamine during a raid at a house in Baguio City, Philippines on Wednesday March 29, 2023. (Police Regional Office Cordillera RPIO via AP)
Short Url
Updated 29 March 2023
Follow

Philippine police seize large stash of drugs in tea bags

Philippine police seize large stash of drugs in tea bags
  • Drug seizure had an estimated street value of $74 million, one the the largest in recent years

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines: Philippine police seized more than 500 kilograms (more than half a ton) of suspected methamphetamine concealed in tea bags Wednesday and arrested a suspected Chinese drug dealer in a northern mountain resort city, police officials said.
The drug seizure in Baguio city had an estimated street value of $74 million (4 billion pesos) and was one of the largest in recent years, officials said.
A drug syndicate apparently hid the suspected drugs, locally known as shabu, in Baguio, a popular tourism destination known for its mountain scenery and pine trees, and not in metropolitan Manila due to an ongoing anti-drugs crackdown in the capital region, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and police officials said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June, has vowed to press on with his predecessor’s crackdown against illegal drugs, which left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead, but said it would be done differently and focus more on rehabilitating drug dependents.