QC drug suspect falls, P173.4M shabu seized
A PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) anti-narcotics operation in Quezon City (QC) on Wednesday morning resulted in the arrest of a top drug target in Metro Manila and the seizure of some 25 kilograms of high-grade shabu worth nearly P174 million, a report to PNP Chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. said.
Members of the QC Police District (QCPD) Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU), the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Regional DEU and Regional Intelligence Division, and the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) Special Operations Unit-NCR conducted the sting in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said NCRPO Director Brig. Gen. Jonnel C. Estomo.
“We have arrested a major drug personality in Metro Manila and are still conducting follow-up operations to identify and arrest his main shabu suppliers,” said the official in reporting the “biggest” drug haul scored so far by the QCPD since he took over as Metro Manila police chief two weeks ago.
Arrested during the buy-bust operation in front of a house in Barangay San Antonio around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday was a 36-year-old jobless man.
Estomo said that members of the QCPD DEU under Brig. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III, the PNP-DEG headed by Brig. Gen. Narciso D. Domingo and the NCRPO RID and RDEU conducted the sting.
Torre said they have been monitoring the suspect’s activities for two months before he was captured.
Officers led by Lt. Roland Vergara arrested the suspect whose vehicle, a silver Nissan Terra yielded 25 vacuum-sealed plastic bags with Chinese green tea markings containing some 25 and a half kilos of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ valued at P173.4 million.
The suspect was collared after he negotiated a deal with an undercover police officer for an unspecified amount of shabu.
Also confiscated from the suspect’s possession were the buy-bust money topped by two marked P1,000 bills and a mobile phone he reportedly used in making contact with the undercover agent.
The suspect is now being investigated at the QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal. He will be facing non-bailable charges for the sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, said Estomo.
Gen. Azurin congratulated his men for their latest accomplishment in the “war on drugs” in Metro Manila amid his order for an intensified crackdown against illegal drug trafficking in the country with officers under orders to strictly follow the rule of law in making drug arrests and seizures. By Alfred Dalizon and Melnie Ragasa-Jimena
