Four drug suspects nabbed

Anti-narcotics agents arrested four people, including an alleged henchman of a local "drug queen," during a buy-bust operation in Marikina City last Friday.

Those arrested were identified as Jennifer Salvador, 40; Marcelo Marcelo, 41; Ricardo Matias, 48; and Melvin Santiago, 29.

Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon, head of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), said Marcelo was listed in the police order of battle as the henchman of Dysebel de la Cruz, alias Baby China, the alleged drug queen of Marikina City.

Drugbusters confiscated from the suspects, five sachets of shabu, drug-sniffing paraphernalia and P500 in marked money.

De Leon dispatched Superintendent Arnold Aguilar, of the AIDSOTF special operations group (SOG), to Barangay Parang amid reports that the group of Baby China was openly engaged in drug peddling.

In coordination with newly-installed police chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan, Aguilar was able to strike a drug deal with Marcelo.

At a pre-arranged signal, combined AIDSOTF and Marikina City officers arrested Marcelo and Salvador after they handed over a sachet of shabu to an officer posing as a buyer at about 10:30 p.m.

The raiders conducted a follow-up operation and arrested Matias and Santiago while in the act of sniffing shabu inside a house in Sto. Niño.

De Leon commended the raiders as he warned that drug traffickers, peddlers and their protectors that their sustained operations would spare no one.

The four arrested suspects are detained at the AIDSOTF jail in Camp Crame while awaiting the filing of necessary charges against them.