Five Taiwanese arrested for drug manufacturing in Philippines

Manila, August 19 (CNA) Following tipoffs from Taiwan, Philippines police busted an illegal drug factory in Manila Sunday, arresting five Taiwanese nationals.

Over 500 grams of finished amphetamine and 20 kilogram of unfinished product, which the police described as having a market value of 150 million Filipino pesos (about $3.54 million), were seized, along with manufacturing equipment.

Among the suspects arrested, some have been living in the Southeast Asian country for six years while others had been travelling between the two countries regularly, the police said.

Prudencio Banas, head of the special task force that carried out the raid, expressed gratitude to Taiwan’s Bureau of Investigation under the Ministry of Justice, which provided tips about the factory.

The plant was set up in a rented residential property in Paranaque city in the southern part of Manila, Philippines police said.

The Taiwanese suspects will be charged with violation of the dangerous drugs act and face maximum sentences of life in prison, the police said.

In recent years, Taiwanese and Philippine judicial and investigation authorities have stepped up their cooperation in cracking down on cross-border crime due to the geographic proximity of the two countries.

Since April this year, police in the Philippines have busted several telecommunications fraud rings and have arrested around 100 suspects from Taiwan and China.

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Category: Society