POLICE Regional Office (PRO) 11 Director Brigadier General Benjamin H. Silo Jr., on Saturday, reported the arrest of nine suspected drug personalities and the seizure of over P200,000 worth of shabu and marijuana following separate anti-narcotics operations in Southern Mindanao this week.

“These drug arrests and confiscation have been made as a result of our stepped-up war on drugs as ordered by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr.,” Silo told the Journal Group.

The PRO 11 chief said five of the suspects were described as “high-value targets” (HVTs) and were arrested in a sting in Purok 4-B, Barangay Magsaysay in Carmen, Davao del Norte at 1 a.m. Friday.

The suspects were led by the 54-year-old suspect with the alias “Bayot,” who was found to be maintaining a “drug dive” in the area where shabu can be bought and sniffed.

Apart from Bayot, the other arrested suspects were his four neighbors.

Recovered from the suspects were around 12 grams of shabu worth P81,600, various drug paraphernalia, and the buy-bust money topped by a marked P1,000 bill.

The suspects are now under the custody of the local Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Another suspect, a 48-year-old farmer from Purok Kurigsaw in Mansaka Village, Bgy. Poblacion, Maragusan, Davao de Oro was arrested in an entrapment operation near Purok Durian past 2 p.m. Thursday.

The suspect yielded over P1,000 worth of shabu and a marked P1,000 bill.

The 7th captured suspect yielded nearly 17 grams of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” valued at around P110,000 during a buy-bust operation in his residence in Macar Village, Bgy. Baliok in Davao City around 4:10 p.m. last Wednesday.

The 34-year-old suspect is a resident of Ilang, Davao City. He yielded seven plastic sachets containing the big volume of shabu and the buy-bust money topped by a marked P500 bill.

The 8th drug suspect was arrested in a sting in a “buko” (coconut) stall along Kilometer 10 in Sasa, Davao City, around 9:30 p.m., Wednesday (January 11). Confiscated from the suspect’s possession were around P1,000 worth of dried marijuana leaves and a marked P500 bill.

The 9th suspect, a 31-year-old resident of Purok Hayahay in Bgy. Poblacion, Lupon, Davao Oriental was arrested in a buy-bust operation in his neighborhood around 4 p.m. last Friday.

Silo said that the suspect was identified as the 10th most wanted drug personality in Southern Mindanao and yielded an estimated P17,000 worth of shabu and the marked P1,000 bill paid to him by an undercover officer.

All nine suspects are now facing charges for the sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.