Police search Chinese national’s contacts

Chinese national Zhou Liming appears to ponder on her predicament as she is presented to Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor Angelo Barrios. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

The Police Regional Office (PRO-7) is looking for the recipients of the P6.2 million worth of shabu seized from Chinese national Zhou Liming at the Mactan Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City last Wednesday.

“I believe she (Zhou) was used by a drug syndicate. And we’re now conducting an investigation to find out who her local contacts are,” said Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, PRO-7 chief.

Taliño, a former chief of the Special Action Force (SAF), said Cebu has become a transshipment point for illegal drugs due to its location and accessibility.

“Cebu has an international airport and numerous sea ports, so drug syndicates chose to operate here,” he said.

Taliño warned drug syndicates to stop peddling illegal drugs, otherwise they will face arrest or death.

“I warn them. The Philippine National Police has intensified our campaign against illegal drugs, and we’re coordinating with other agencies to really go after these drug syndicates,” he said.

Zhou, who claimed to be a nurse, was arrested after officers of the Bureau of Customs detected 11 packs of shabu inside her light blue trolley bag upon arrival at the airport from Hunan at past 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Speaking through an interpreter, Zhou said a female cousin and her Canadian lover requested her to bring the luggage to Cebu.

She said it was her third trip to Cebu since she received her passport on Jan. 15, 2016.

Zhou said two Filipinos — a man and a woman — were supposed to fetch her from the airport and bring her to a hotel.

The packs of shabu taken from her weighed 4.2 kilos which the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency estimated to be worth P6.2 million.

Charges for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are set to be filed against the Chinese national.

Since the illegal drug taken from her is more than five grams, the case is non-bailable.

Zhou attended inquest proceedings at the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office at 4:38 p.m. yesterday. Enrico Rigor, chief of the Legal and Investigation Division of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) in Camp Crame, said a resolution from the prosecutor’s office will be released at 1 p.m. today.

Rigor said Zhou admitted to them that her cousin asked her to carry the luggage to her friend in Cebu last March and May this year.

Zhou admitted to being paid but declined to say how much for carrying the luggage.

She said she didn’t know that the luggage she carried contained shabu.

“It was possible that illegal drugs passed through the airport since there were times when the X-ray machines malfunctioned,” Rigor said. He said they have leads but didn’t elaborate.