Suspected ‘shabu’ seized from Malaysian tourist at Matnog port

NAGA CITY – A Malaysian national was caught attempting to transport over P6,000 worth of suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) through the Matnog port in Sorsogon province on Thursday, 1 October, police report said.

Matnog police responded to a call to the port after the X-ray baggage scanner detected suspicious images inside a passenger’s bag during a routine security screening at the Matnog port in Barangay Caloocan, Matnog, at around 6 a.m.

Report from Matnog police said this prompted their personnel to conduct a search of the passenger’s bags which led to the discovery of a sachet containing suspected “shabu” weighing around one gram, with an estimated standard drug price of P6,800. They also seized two glass tubes containing suspected drug residue from the suspect’s bag.

“Joe,” 34, a Malaysian tourist temporarily residing in Pasay City, was identified as the owner of the bag. He was promptly arrested at the port and is currently detained at the Matnog police station pending the filing of a charge for the violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165, or the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.”

Matnog police also said that verification through the Investigation Solutions Automatic Verification system indicated that the suspect had existing records in E-ROUGE, a web-based online database used by the Philippine National Police, and CIRAS (Crime Information, Reporting and Analysis System) involving an alleged violation of RA 9165, dated 22 July 2021, and “other forms of trespass,” dated 26 April 2021.

Investigation is ongoing.