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P1 trillion shabu chemicals seized from LU farm house
By Jerry Padilla

NAGUILIAN, La Union – Police seized six truckloads of chemicals and paraphernalia to manufacture 180,000 kilos of shabu, worth more than P1 trillion, during a raid here Wednesday at a farm house in Barangay Binmotobot that was turned into a drug laboratory.

Senior Supt. Noli Taliño, La Union police director, told newsmen the raiding team arrested two caretakers of the farm that was leased by a certain George Cordero from Bulacan.

Cordero was not around during the raid but caretakers Dante Tomas Palaganas, 41, and Andy Tangalim, 44, were taken into custody.

Taliño said the caretakers claimed they were not allowed by their boss to go to the laboratory and were only ordered to take care of the premises.

He said the raiding team, composed of Naguilian police, provincial police office, regional police headquarters, conducted the raid around 3 p.m. at the farmhouse.

Police said the huge volume of chemicals confiscated could produce around 180,000 kilos of shabu with a street value of more than P1 trillion. A kilo of shabu is now worth P6,000.

Investigators said the police operation was conducted in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the office of La Union Gov. Manoling Ortega.

The raiding team recovered the chemicals and laboratory equipment from two sites at the farm located in a secluded area in a mountainous section of the barangay.

He said the chemicals were stored at the main farmhouse, a bungalow. There were two other small buildings, one of which has a cave with a concrete floor.

The farm has a perimeter fence made of galvanized iron sheets.

Police said foul odor emanating from the farmhouse prompted nearby residents to report it to the police.

Taliño said the two arrested farm caretakers were placed under interrogation while the seized items were turned over to the PDEA.

Drug enforcement agents said the seized items include 159 bags of soda, iodine crystal, heather, hydrochloric acid, and red phosphorous and three gallons of organic solvent.