PNP vows to unmask syndicate behind Valenzuela shabu lab

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency

BIG HAUL. Some of the ingredients in manufacturing shabu that were found inside a raided laboratory in Valenzuela City on Feb. 22, 2026. The Philippine National Police on Thursday (Feb. 26) vowed to go after the syndicate behind the operation. (Photo: PNA/Facebook)

MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday vowed to go after the group behind the shabu laboratory discovered in Valenzuela City where some PHP6.6 billion worth of illegal drugs were seized.

“We will conduct follow-up operations as we believe that what we discovered in Valenzuela City was being operated by a huge syndicate,” PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement.

“We will leave no stone unturned in tracking down every individual connected to this syndicate.”

Nartatez also ordered the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) to investigate whether other illegal laboratories exist in the country that could potentially be linked to the Valenzuela operation.

“I have instructed our personnel, particularly the PDEG, to intensify its intelligence monitoring and gathering to trace if there are other shabu laboratories existing in the country, especially in the metro,” he said.

On Feb. 22, operatives from the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency confiscated 906.41 kg. of suspected shabu worth PHP6.16 billion and 64.15 liters of liquid methamphetamine valued at PHP436.22 million during a raid on a large clandestine shabu laboratory inside a warehouse in Valenzuela City.

The facility was discovered after authorities arrested a 30-year-old suspect for allegedly selling 500 grams of shabu worth about PHP3.4 million to an undercover agent earlier in the day.