Zambales ‘HVT’ nabbed
A “high-value drug target” in Zambales province was arrested by the local police during a buy-bust operation in Castillejos municipality which led in the seizure of an estimated P170,000 worth of shabu, Zambales Police Provincial Office (PPO) director Colonel Romano V. Cardiño said on Saturday.
Suspect Mario Vicente Jr. alias “Fernando Vicente,” a 34-year-old resident of Purok 5, Bgy. San Nicolas in Castillejos, is now facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the official said.
Cardiño, in a report to Police Regional Office 3 director Brigadier General Valeriano T. de Leon, said the suspect was arrested in a sting in his neighborhood 7:20 p.m. Friday.
Tagged as a “high-value individual” in Central Luzon, the suspect yielded a heat-sealed plastic sachet containing shabu and a marked P1,000 bill during the buy-bust operation spearheaded by undercover officers from the Zambales PPO and Castillejos Municipal Police Station Drug Enforcement Unit led by Major Richard Fortaleza.
When frisked, the suspect also yielded 26 more plastic sachets containing the same drug.
Cardiño said during examination, the drug evidence weighed a total of 24.78 grams worth P170,000.
