MANILA, Philippines - Government agents seized five kilos of shabu, with an estimated street value of P30 million, in a drug bust in Quezon City yesterday afternoon.
Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) also arrested Mohammad Salih Rataban during the anti-drug operation along Congressional Avenue.
The shabu was packed in plastic and hidden in Rataban’s backpack, said PDEA-Metro Manila director Jacqueline de Guzman.
Agents also seized from Rataban a Mitsubishi Montero Sport during the drug bust at the parking lot of a grocery store.
The transaction was supposedly just for 200 grams of shabu but the suspect yielded more of the illegal drug.
According to De Guzman, yesterday’s operation followed months of intelligence-gathering that started in December last year.
De Guzman did not name the group to which the suspect was connected, citing follow-up operations. She did allege that Rataban distributed illegal drugs not just in Metro Manila but also in Central and Southern Luzon.