COMBINED agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) early morning Friday seized 149 kilograms of shabu worth P1.28 billion during a buy-bust operation in Bacoor City in Cavite, PDEA chair Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva said.

The official said that arrested during the sting were Jorlan San Jose, 26; Joseph Maurin, 38; and Joan Lumanog, 27, all residents of Bgy. Dominorog in Talatag, Bukidnon.

Villanueva said the three were arrested during the anti-narcotics operation at Block 16, Lot 9, Manager Drive Executive 1 Subdivision in Bgy. Molino in Bacoor City 6:40 in the morning.

Recovered during the sting were plastic packets containing around 149 kilos of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” and the marked money paid by an undercover officer to the suspects.

Villanueva said the operation was jointly conducted by operatives from the PDEA Intelligence and Investigation Service, Special Enforcement Service and the Cavite Field Office with the support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Task Force Noah, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the PNP Drug Enforcement, the Cavite Police Provincial Office, the Bacoor City Police Station and the Bureau of Customs.

All three suspects are now being questioned at the PDEA national headquarters in Quezon City. They 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.

It was the latest major anti-drug operation accomplished amid the whole-of-government approach being applied by the PDEA and the PNP in going after big-time drug personalities. specifically those involved in large-scale importation and distribution of illegal drugs in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

PNP chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar cited the whole-of-government approach as a key factor in the series of anti-narcotics operations in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan and Cavite which led in the killing of four armed Chinese drug smugglers and two of their Filipino distributors and the arrest of five others, three of them also Chinese nationals, last month.

The top PNP official said those operations are expected to have a “very big impact” on the illegal drug distribution system in the country.

Eleazar vowed to further step up the campaign against illegal drugs through strong coordination and good working relationship with other government agencies, particularly the PDEA which is the lead agency in the drug war.

“Makakaasa ang ating mga kababayan na magpapatuloy ang aming agresibong kampanya laban sa iligal na droga dahil ang kinabukasan ng ating mga kabataan at ng ating bansa ang nakataya dito,” the PNP chief said.

Last month, major intelligence-driven operations jointly conducted by agents of the PDEA and the PNP in Bacoor City in Cavite led in the neutralization of four “high-value targets” in the country and the seizure of around 229 kilograms of shabu worth nearly P1.6 billion.

Recovered during the first operation were 181 kilograms of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” worth P1.25 billion, the buy-bust money and firearms used by the suspects in trading shots with officers.

A follow-up operation in Imus City, Cavite led in the arrest of two other suspects and the confiscation of 48 kilograms of shabu worth P331.2 million.

Four of the Chinese nationals were killed in a shootout with members of the PNP-DEG under Brigadier Gen. Remus B. Medina while three were arrested. Confiscated from the suspects were a total of 580 kilograms of shabu worth P3.944 billion.

The successive anti-drug operations spearheaded by the PDEA were the biggest undertaken by the Duterte administration so far this year in line with the government’s massive war on drugs.

Eleazar vowed to further step up the campaign against illegal drugs through strong coordination and good working relationship with other government agencies, particularly the PDEA which is the lead agency in the drug war.