Chief Inspector Jose Mario Espino, chief of the WPD’s District Drug Enforcement Group, identified the suspects as Bai Malang, 34, and Amy Pukan, 37, both natives of Mindanao, and Cristina Benjamin, 35, of 480 Baltazar st., Tondo, Manila. Espino said the buy-bust operation was precipitated by reports that the three women were engaged in selling shabu to small-time drug users along Basan street in Quiapo.
SPO1 Rodolfo Ramos, acting as poseur-buyer, managed to buy shabu from the three women before anti-narcotics operatives swooped down on the trio’s hideout at 24 Basan st., Quiapo. Recovered from the suspects were four sachets of shabu and the marked money. Espino said the three women pointed to a certain Macaangcos Alawiya, a millionaire Muslim trader, as their source of the illegal drugs.
According to Espino, Macaangcos could be the same person in the DDEG’s list of wanted pushers who remain elusive to authorities.
Intelligence reports showed that Macaangcos hides his drug transactions by using his fancy jewelry business as front. He also owns several apartments in San Andres, Manila. Macaangcos reportedly established an Islamic association registered as al-Ikhlas Islamic Foundation, Inc. One of the purposes for its incorporation is to accept funds from local or foreign donors.
Espino believes the foundation could be his conduit for drug money. The three women were charged with violation of the anti-drugs law. – Nestor Etolle