PDEA says Subic shabu case far from over

The case involving the smuggling of P4-billion worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) into the Subic Bay Freeport in May is far from closed, the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said here on Tuesday.

Retired Gen. Dionisio Santiago said the case has yet to see closure as the main suspect, Filipino-Chinese Anthony “Anton” Ang, continued to elude arrest six months after he failed to claim the contraband he passed off as computer parts.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority police and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group discovered the haul in four batches totaling more than 700 kg. The biggest load was found at the Anglo Asia warehouse that Ang rented at the freeport.

“We haven’t gotten Anton Ang. How can you close the case when you have not arrested the main suspect? There’s no case closed. We only discovered the operations. This may take years and the criminal case may take long,” Santiago said.

He also called as false reports that Ang had been killed to silence him. “He’s still alive. He’s in China,” Santiago said, citing intelligence reports.

Ang, he said, escaped because the order to hold his departure came late.

“He will be mistaken if he thinks the PDEA has rested the case. We don’t easily stop. This is a continuing effort. If he can stay forever in China, well and good,” Santiago said.

On the order of President Macapagal-Arroyo, the PDEA burned the shabu in June in a facility in Cavite.

Ang snubbed the efforts of Santiago to seek protection from the PDEA. By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk