(CNN Philippines) — Lawmakers are raising their eyebrows over what they say, are the many inconsistencies in the statements of local and police officals, in today’s hearing on the mega shabu laboratory discovered in Virac, Catanduanes.
For instance, in their initial report, the police said they recovered 792 grams of shabu when they inspected the shabu laboratory last November.
But when pressed further, the police said they also recovered 20 kilos of shabu, worth ₱100 million.
That amount wasn’t declared by investigators early on, and it’s only now that this detail surfaced.
Lawmakers also grilled Provincial Prosecutor Mary Jane Zantua who ordered the police to stop lawmakers from entering the drug laboratory for an ocular inspection this morning. Zantua reasoned, she wants to preserve the evidence inside.
But Zantua admitted she wasn’t handling the investigation on the shabu lab.
Lawmakers couldn’t help but wonder if anyone called the Provincial Prosecutor and ordered her to stop authorities from entering.
Zantua denied the insinuation.
A police report also said Mayor Samuel Leynes and Regional Trial Court Branch 43 Executive Judge Lelu Contreras inspected the drug lab prior to the issuance of the search warrant.
Lawmakers said the warrant should have come first before the inspection, otherwise, it’s a trespassing offense.
Judge Contreras denied that portion of the police report.
Lawmakers are looking at possible lapses made by law enforcement agencies and local government units, that may have allowed such a lab to get constructed and to operate.
Police raided the shabu lab in November after receiving an intelligence report. Authorities recovered chemical ingredients at the site – including 6 units of hydrogenator that can produce 1.2 tons of shabu in a week, equivalent to ₱5 billion.
That means, the facility can produce ₱24 billion worth of shabu in a month.
The alleged operators of the drug lab are still at large.
