WesMin cops seize over P20-M shabu, jail 5 top targets
POLICE Regional Office 9 director Brig. Gen. Roel C. Rodolfo on Tuesday announced the seizure of nearly P20 million worth of high-grade shabu in Western Mindanao following separate anti-narcotics operations in the region which also led to the arrest of five of their top targets.
In a report to Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, the official said the major drug arrests and seizures were made amid their stepped-up anti-narcotics campaign in the region.
Last Saturday, members of the Naga Municipal Police Station in Zamboanga Sibugay arrested a 57-year-old local resident who yielded a fragmentation grenade and a gram of shabu worth P6,800 during an anti-drug operation in Bgy. Baga.
On Thursday last week, Rodolfo said that undercover officers from the Zamboanga City Police Office Drug Enforcement Unit, backed up by officers from Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Wing and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, confiscated a kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million from a top target in the city.
The sting was conducted along Valderosa Street in Bgy. Zone IV.
Another anti-narcotics operation in Bgy. San Roque Road in Zamboanga City on the same day triggered the arrest of four suspected big-time drug personalities in the region after they conspired to sell a kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million to an undercover agent.
Members of the PDEA and the Zamboanga City Police Office DEU confiscated a large resealable plastic bag containing 1,000 grams of shabu from the four suspects.
On the same day, members of the PDEA, with the help of the Zamboanga del Sur Police Provincial Office, conducted another sting at the Gaisano Mall parking lot in Bgy. San Pedro in Pagadian City, which resulted in the arrest of a “high-value” target after he sold 500 grams of the “poor man’s cocaine” valued at P3.4 million to a poseur-buyer.
The arrested suspects are facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Rodolfo also said that from February 23 to last March 1, they scored significant accomplishments in their campaign against illegal drugs and loose firearms.
The official said that among those arrested during the period were 43 drug targets who yielded nearly P980,000 worth of illegal drugs.
Also recovered during the period were 43 loose firearms, 15 of them seized from eight crime targets while the 28 were voluntarily surrendered by their owners for safekeeping until their licenses are renewed.
The arrested eight suspects were charged for violation of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013.
