PDEA, PNP seize P136M shabu
COMBINED agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday seized 20 kilograms of shabu worth P136 million in separate anti-narcotics operations in the southern part of Metro Manila, PDEA chair, Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva said yesterday.
The official said the two operations likewise resulted in the arrest of four suspected members of a big-time drug trafficking gang composed of rogue Chinese nationals getting aid from some unscrupulous Filipino-Muslims.
Villanueva said that first to be arrested in a sting at the vicinity of Puregold along Ninoy Aquino Avenue in Bgy. Sto. Niño, Parañaque City 7 p.m. Friday was Ralel Salic Barauntong alias ‘Boss,’ a 29-year-old jobless resident of Old Cabalan, Olongapo City.
Members of the PDEA National Capital Region (NCR) Eastern District Office and the Parañaque City Police Station seized 10 kilos of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ valued at P68 million from the suspect.
Also confiscated from Barauntong were 10 bundles of boodle money topped by a marked P1,000 bill, a mobile phone he used in making the illegal drug transaction with a poseur and a gray Chevrolet Optra with plate no. ZMX-519.
A follow-up operation conducted by operatives from the PDEA-NCR, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, the Southern Police District (SPD) Drug Enforcement Unit and the Las Piñas City Police Station led in the arrest of Mohaimen Daragangan Andang, 28; Harvy Dalig Dumrang, 18; and Marilou Estuaria Leviste, 49, all residents of 53 Diamond Street, Camella Homes in 3C Pamplona Tres, Las Piñas City 8:30 p.m. of the same day.
Seized from the suspects’ possession were 10 kilos of shabu, three cell phones which are now being subjected to a forensic technical examination, the boodle money topped by a P1,000 bill dusted with ultra-violet powder and a black Toyota Vios with plate no. FAE 5952.
PNP chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar has ordered the PNP-DEG headed by Brigadier Gen. Remus B. Medina, the National Capital Region Police Office headed by Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. and the SPD headed by Brig. Gen. Eliseo DC Cruz to fully assist the PDEA in conducting follow-up operations to identify and arrest other members of the syndicate.
The suspects will be facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of dangerous drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, said Villanueva.
