Philippines arrests Chinese suspect over US$74 million worth of drugs stashed in tea bags

In one of the Philippines’ largest drug busts in years, police seized over 500kg (1,100lbs) of drugs stashed in tea bags and arrested a Chinese suspect

President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has vowed to press on with predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs but says he will focus on rehabilitation

2-MIN READ2-MIN

The drug seizure in Baguio city had an estimated street value of 4 billion pesos (US$74 million) and was one of the largest in recent years. Photo: via AP

Published: 10:29pm, 29 Mar 2023Updated: 1:34am, 30 Mar 2023

Philippine police seized more than 500kg (1,102lbs) of suspected methamphetamine concealed in tea bags and arrested a suspected Chinese drug dealer in a northern mountain resort city, police officials said.

The drug seizure in Baguio city on Wednesday had an estimated street value of 4 billion pesos (US$74 million) 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 Jnr, 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.

A drug syndicate apparently hid the suspected drugs 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. Photo: via AP

Under former president Rodrigo Duterte, more than 6,000 mostly poor suspected drug dealers were killed in reported clashes with law enforcers.

The widespread killings alarmed Western governments, including the United States, and sparked an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation as a possible crime against humanity.