YOU'VE NOWHERE TO HIDE: LINA WARNS SHABU MAKERS

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. warned shabu
laboratory operators Thursday they would be ferreted out by an order he
gave to mayors in Metro Manila and elsewhere for an exhaustive inspection
of all commercial buildings, warehouses, and factories.

Lina told Malacanang reporters that mayors are authorized to do the search,
guised as a routine inspection, invoking their "visitor powers" without a
warrant.

Mayors may conduct ocular inspection in all infrastructures within its
jurisdiction to ensure that structural standards and requirements are
complied with, such as fire safety, among others.

The inspection, to be led by the Bureau of Fire Protection, would give the
mayors a chance to find out if other shabu laboratories are operating
within their region, Lina added.

A recent 35-minute fire in Valenzuela led to the discovery of what could be
the biggest drug factory, operated by Chinese nationals, in the country to
date, capable of producing an average of P2.2 billion worth of the illegal
substance.

However, Lina's sounding off the order could give these unscrupulous
individuals the time they need to clear their operations out and move it
elsewhere.

Under normal circumstances in police operations, such actions are done
covertly in order to surprise and catch the criminals red-handed.

In this case, Lina may have just given the illegal drug producers the
advantage they need to escape arrest.