MANILA - Four Chinese nationals arrested in a so-called “floating” shabu laboratory off Subic, Zambales last July 11 will be indicted before the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for manufacture and illegal possession of dangerous drugs.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) found probable cause against Win Fai Lo, Shu Fook Leung, Kam Wah Kwok and Kwok Tung Chan in an 8-page inquest resolution signed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera, and approved by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and Prosecutor General CLaro Arellano.

In its complaint, the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) said respondents were nabbed aboard an unmarked fishing vessel harboring in the waters off Barangay Calapandayan. Upon inspection of the boat by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) with the aid of a canine, the canine sat on a blue back pack; subjected to a chemistry report, the contents of the backpack tested positive for “shabu.”

A total of 467.8 grams of “shabu” was seized from respondents, which bolstered the charge for illegal possession of the dangerous substance. A seized hyrdogenator, "a crucial equipment for making ‘shabu,’” led to a prima facie finding against respondents that
"manufacturing was actually done by the respondents aboard the boat.”

“[C]onsidering the PNP-AIDG’s credible and straightforward narration of the facts, we have no recourse but to find probable cause against all the respondents collectively for separate violations of Sections 8 (manufacture of dangerous drugs) and 11 (illegal possession of dangerous drugs) of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” the resolution read.

The inquest proceedings took place at the DOJ main office in Manila last July 13, where respondents, represented by the Public Attorney's Office, refused to formally answer the charges.