Couple nabbed for P34-M shabu
A COUPLE-TURNED “high-value targets” in Mimaropa region on Monday were arrested by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in a buy-bust operation in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro.
PDEA chair Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo identified the arrested as Luis Baes, a 45-year-old businessman-farmer and his wife Lyn, 41, both residents of Sitio Maije in Bgy. Malitbog, Bongabong municipality.
Seized from the couple were five kilograms of shabu worth P34 milliom.
The two, according to the official were arrested by undercover officers from the PDEA Mimaropa Regional Special Enforcement Team in a buy-bust operation in Sitio Panlanao, Bgy. Sagana, also in Bongabong around 11:10 a.m. Monday.
The PDEA operatives were joined by members of the Bongabong Municipal Police Station and the National Bureau of Investigation Mimaropa in the conduct of the sting.
The suspects were arrested after they sold a kilo of the “poor man’s cocaine” valued at P6.8 million to an undercover agent for P1.150 million.
When arrested, the two also yielded four more similar plastic packets each containing a kilo of shabu. The drugs were concealed in Chinese tea bags with “Guanyinwang” markings.
Also recovered during the operation were the buy-bust money topped by a marked P1,000 bill.
The couple’s gray Toyota Hilux with plate no. VAB-3506 which they used to transport the illegal drugs was impounded by the PDEA.
An investigation is underway to identify the main source of the huge volume of drugs recovered from the two, said Lazo.
The arrested suspects are facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
