SUBIC, Zambales – Authorities on Monday (July 11) night intercepted a foreign vessel suspected of being used to manufacture and ship shabu (methamphetamine hydrocloride) into the country.

Agents from the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who led the operation, boarded the vessel off the coastline of this town at about 9 p.m. to search for shabu.

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Four Chinese nationals from Hong Kong on board the ship and suspected of being involved in drug smuggling were arrested.

Police found a plastic bag containing suspected shabu weighing about 500 grams from one of the Chinese.

Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, chief of Philippine National Police, arrived here at around midnight to check on the operation.

“We received an intelligence report that this vessel is being used to transport shabu coming from overseas,” Dela Rosa told reporters.

He said the ship could have also been used as a laboratory to produce shabu.

According to Dela Rosa, they will check if the seized vessel is connected to the recovered 180 kilograms of suspected shabu in Claveria town in Cagayan province.

READ: Cops seize P1-B worth of shabu in Cagayan

“For sure, we will be connecting some dots to see if there’s any link,” he said. CDG/rga

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