PDEA scores in shabu buy-bust

MANILA, Philippines -  Blocks of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” worth around P50,000 were seized by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday afternoon during a raid on a house in Caloocan City.

PDEA Metro Manila Regional Office Director Wilkins Villanueva said the blocks of shabu were found inside the two-story house on Milagrosa street in Bagong Barrio owned by the suspect identified only as a certain Egay.

Apart from the house occupant, also arrested were his alleged “runners” identified only as Tony and Eugene.

Villanueva said the anti-narcotics operation was prompted by a search warrant issued by Judge Aurelio Rarar Jr. of a Caloocan court against Egay and two more persons, identified only as Grace and Macmac, who are still at large.

He said the contraband was still in blocks and not yet packed in plastic sachets when the operatives swooped down on the house.

Villanueva said the house was being used as a drug den, with the house owner allegedly acting as the supplier of illegal drugs along the street.

Also in Caloocan City, Northern Police District (NPD)-District Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operating Task Group (DAID-SOTG) operatives arrested a 42-year-old man for possession and sale of illegal drugs.

The suspect was identified as Ronnie Lagamayo of 1197 Torsilo street, Block 2, Caloocan City.

In Cubao, Quezon City, four suspected drug users were arrested while engaging in a “pot session.”

Operatives of the Quezon City Police District-Station 7 arrested Jonalyn Cordova, Dany Salem, Ancelmo Castañeda, and Carlo de Guzman at around 6 p.m. on Monday.

Recovered from the suspects were five small plastic sachets containing shabu, an improvised aluminum “tooter” and two lighters.

In Mandaluyong City, a jobless man man was arrested on Valentine’s Day for selling 1/2 kilo of cocaine worth P2.5 million to a police poseur-buyer.

Allain Raneses, 30, a resident of No. 2760 C P. Celle street, Pasay City did not resist arrest when cornered by joint elements of the local police and the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) at 4:45 p.m. also on Monday.

Superintendent Roque Merdegia, AIDSOTF legal officer said Raneses admitted that the cocaine came from Samar, part of the two tons of shipment dropped in the high seas by a foreign-flagged vessel.

It took barely a week for Superintendent Ismael Fajardo, chief of the AIDSOTF’s Special Operations Unit 3 (SOU 3) to arrange a deal with Raneses for the purchase of half a kilo of cocaine.

Merdegia said Raneses initially denied ownership of the recovered money but clamped up when asked about the cocaine. – Reinir Padua, Non Alquitran, Jerry Botial