Retired PNP general’s son arrested in P30-M shabu sting in Zambo
COMBINED agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Police Regional Office 9 on Monday arrested a top drug target in Western Mindanao after he sold some 4.4 kilograms of shabu worth nearly P30 million to an undercover officer in Zamboanga City.
The suspect identified as Ashraf Kayzar Julkarim Ikbala alias “Bhar/Ak,” a 40-year-old resident of Aurora Village in Bgy. Tumaga, Zamboanga City, was reported to be a son of a retired Philippine National Police general.
The PDEA headed by Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo said that the accused was arrested in a buy-bust operation around 11:05 a.m. Monday at Palawan Zone II in Bgy. Divisoria conducted by operatives from the PDEA Zamboanga City Office, the PRO9 Regional Drug Enforcement Unit and the Naval Intelligence Security Group-Western Mindanao.
Confiscated from the suspect were the huge volume of the “poor man’s cocaine” valued at P29.920 million, a sling bag containing green tea bags with “Guayinyang” markings and the buy-bust money topped by a marked P1,000 bill.
The suspect, who is now being held at the Zamboanga City police jail, 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, said PRO9 director Brig. Gen. Bowenn Joey M. Masauding.
The young Ikbala was also arrested in January 2019 for alleged possession of some P100,000 worth of shabu during an anti-drug operation in Aurora Village in Bgy. Tumaga, also in Zamboanga City, the PRO9 reported.
He is also the subject of at least two warrants of arrest for a previous violation of RA 9165 case.
Meanwhile, Masauding also reported the arrest of two top drug targets in Zamboanga City after they conspired to sell shabu to an undercover officer inside the Diamond Motel in Bgy. Canelar around 2 a.m. last Sunday.
He described the suspects as a 38-year-old male jeepney conductor and a 35-year-old female vendor who have both been tagged as “high-value individuals.”
Seized from the suspects by members of the Zamboanga City Police Office headed by Col. Kimberly E. Molitas were two plastic sachets containing some 100 grams of shabu worth P680,000.
The two suspects are also facing non-bailable charges for violation of RA 9165, said the PRO9 director.
