Breaking Bad at sea? Four Hongkongers to be charged in Philippines after being arrested on floating drug lab
Police raid fishing vessel in Zambales allegedly used to make and transport shabu, also known as methamphetamine hydrochloride
Four Hong Kong men are facing life in jail in the Philippines after a raid on a “floating crystal meth laboratory ” moored off the country’s popular tourist resort of Subic Bay.
The men – who appeared in court in Manila yesterday following their arrest on Monday – deny charges of manufacturing illegal substances and possessing half a kilo of the powerful stimulant drug methamphetamine, also known as “Ice’’ .
They were arrested on board a 50-metre fishing boat two miles off the coast of Zambales province, north-west of Manila, in a high-profile operation led by the country’s police chief Ronald de la Rosa.
The authorities alleged the men were part of a racket that was moving drugs from the vessel onto the mainland and that equipment used in the production of crystal meth – known as shabu in the Philippines – was also seized.
All four Hong Kong men, Leung Shu-fook, 49, Lo Wing Fai , 28, Kwok Kam-wah, 47, and Chan Kwok-tung, 42, have sought assistance from the Chinese Embassy in Manila.