Looc: The Philippine National Police (PNP) seized ingredients and equipment to manufacture illegal drugs following an operation in Looc, Occidental Mindoro. Nabbed during the May 29 operation were Lupito Ramirez, 63, and Agustina Plaza, 51. This operation was a follow-up to the May 26 operation launched by the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP DEG) in Barangay Bulacan, where a suspected drug laboratory was dismantled.
According to Philippines News Agency, PNP Chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered PNP investigators to further probe the matter as there were indications that the two arrested suspects were merely caretakers of the equipment and other materials. "I commend our personnel for a job well done in locating this area despite being on a remote island. This is clear proof of good intelligence-gathering and a conduct of strategic operation," Nartatez said in a statement.
Looc is part of the Lubang Island group, located off the northwestern coast of Occidental Mindoro. Several villages in the area are accessible only by boat and have limited communication infrastructure, making intelligence operations more challenging. "But the operation will not end in the dismantling of this illegal drugs laboratory. We have to identify those people behind this and determine if there are other similar facilities in any part of the country," Nartatez added.
The operation was based on a search warrant issued by Judge Ulyssess Delgado, presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 44, Fourth Judicial Region, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro. Police applied the search warrant to thoroughly scour the area after the illegal drugs facility was dismantled on May 26. More materials and equipment were discovered inside the property owned by the couple.
One body-worn camera and one alternative recording device were used during the operation. Nartatez mentioned that investigators are currently engaged in discussions with the couple to obtain more details on how the equipment and materials ended up on their property. Police are now conducting an inventory of the confiscated items from the suspected clandestine illegal drug laboratory.
