The police operation was conducted after operatives of the WPD’s District Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Group (DAID-SOTG) received classified information that a certain "Dats" has been responsible for the proliferation of shabu in Manila.
DAID-SOTG chief Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr. formed a team led by Senior Police Officer 4 Tony Bangit to conduct surveillance operation, leading to a negotiation for the purchase of several kilos of shabu from the suspect.
At the designated area of the drug deal at the parking area of the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, a DAID-SOTG policeman acted as a buyer.
Two men on board a green Civic Honda (WTW-284) arrived in the area and after exchanging agreed passwords with the poseur-buyer started the drug transaction.
Police operatives posted nearby then came in and announced the arrest. Recovered inside the car were 16 pieces of self-sealing plastic sachets of shabu with an estimated weight of eight kilos. Pedrozo said the recovered shabu could fetch an amount of P16 million in the street market.
The arrested suspects were identified as Dats Angonday, 26, of Dasmariñas, Cavite and Tony Lim, alias Willy Chua, 32, a native of Fukien, China and temporarily residing in Binondo. – Nestor Etolle