Sixty foreigners, including four Singaporeans, were arrested during a drug raid in Philippines' prime financial district Makati on Wednesday.
It was reported that the foreigners were working at Haoying Solutions in Makati and the police have taken the general manager, identified as Zhang Hai Long, into custody after crystal methamphetamine, known locally as "shabu", was found in his possession.
The passports and tourist visas of the detainees have also been confiscated.
Other than the four Singaporeans, 50 Chinese nationals, four Taiwanese, and one person from Hong Kong were detained for questioning. However, they were not formally charged and the police refused to disclose their names.
Reports suggest that the office of Haoying Solutions at the Multinational Bancorporation Centre was raided by police on a search warrant issued against the manager.
During the raid, sachets containing crystals believed to be shabu, 12 aluminium foil sheets with traces of shabu, three lighters and an improvised tooter were found, said the Senior Superintendent Eleazar Matta, as reported by the news portal.
Matta also said the officers were surprised to find out that the company was running an illegal online gambling operation.
The Straits Times quoted the superintended as saying that Haoying solution was supposed to be working as a company providing gaming support services and business process outsourcing, out of a special economic zone in Cagayan province, 500km north of Manila. However, it was operating in Makati without a business permit.
After an initial investigation, police suggested that Zhang could have encouraged his staff, who have to generally work 24 hours in the company, to use shabu. Around 100 desktop computers were also seized to check the nature and extent of the company's operations.
It was also reported that the police will coordinate with the immigration bureau to find out that if any of the detainees were staying in the Philippines illegally.
