Forbes Park drug den raided

Six people were arrested last Wednesday night by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) while they were allegedly engaged in a pot session at a house in Forbes Park, Makati City.

Those arrested were identified by PDEA director Anselmo Avenido as Jose Reyes II, alias Segundo Reyes and alias Sec, 51, house owner; his brother Jose Reyes III; his son Jose Reyes IV, 22; Josephine Quipo, 44; Domilyn Mitchell, 22; and Frank Morato, 53, of 42 N. Domingo Street, Quezon City. Two other unidentified suspects managed to elude arrest. The arrested suspects are now being investigated at the PDEA office in Camp Crame.

Seized at the house located at 7 Palm Avenue, Forbes Park were an undetermined quantity of shabu, an undetermined quantity of marijuana, an undetermined quantity of hashish, various shabu-sniffing paraphernalia, two weighing scales, four gas burners, 46 aluminum foil strips used in the sniffing of shabu, 43 live bullets for a caliber .45 pistol, a silencer for a caliber .22 pistol, a wallet containing a National Bureau of Investigation identification card, an NBI badge and two motorcycles – a BMW and a Yamaha. The seized drugs are now in the custody of the Philippine National Police crime laboratory.

The raid was witnessed by Jose Concepcion, barangay chairman of both Forbes Park subdivision and Dasmarinas Village, said PDEA.

Prior to the raid, which was done at 9:30 p.m., Avenido said the alleged drug den was placed on an intensive surveillance by the raiding team led by Chief Inspector Hernando Tiongson of the PDEA Operations Support Service. The raiders were armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Rebecca Mariano of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 136.

According to Superintendent Marino Ravelo, PDEA OSS chief, the suspects were nabbed at the house’s billiard room while in the act of sniffing shabu and smoking hashish and marijuana. Ravelo added that it was Jose Reyes II who yielded the NBI ID bearing the name Segundo Reyes and an NBI badge when frisked.

Ravelo said that the raided house was being used almost every night as a drug den. He added that the NBI badge and ID yielded by Jose Reyes II were fakes.

Even his (Reyes IIs) maids have testified that the house was being used nightly by his friends for their pot sessions, Ravelo said.

Ravelo said they are still investigating the source of the drugs used by the suspects in their nightly pot sessions. Ravelo added that it was also the first time that PDEA agents busted a drug den inside a posh subdivision.

This operation was significant as it was done in an exclusive village in the presence of the barangay captain who assisted in the orderly conduct of the search. This is in line with the instruction of the President to arrest drug law violators regardless of their status in life, said Avenido.