CENTRAL Visayas policemen arrested a top drug suspect in a buy-bust operation late Wednesday which led to the seizure of over P7.5 million worth of shabu, Police Regional Office 7 director Brigadier General Anthony A. Aberin said yesterday.

In a report to Philippine National Police chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr., the suspect was identified as Jake Merson Mercado alias ‘Kano,’ 33, of Block 5, Barangay Sawang Calero, Cebu City.

Aberin said that the suspect, who has been tagged as a ‘high-value individual,’ yielded 14 pieces of heat-sealed plastic packets containing 1,115 grams of shabu valued at P7.58 million in a buy-bust operation in Block 7, Bgy. Sawang Calero around 10:50 p.m. Wednesday.

The PRO7 director said that the sting was conducted by undercover officers from the Cebu City Police Office Drug Enforcement Unit under Colonel Ireneo B. Dalogdog in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Apart from the drugs, the suspect also yielded the buy-bust money topped by a marked P500 bill.

The recovered pieces of drug evidence were placed under the custody of Regional Forensic Unit 7 while the suspect is currently detained at the Cebu City Police Station.

Aberin said that the suspect will be facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon