11 arrested in Cavite 'shabu tiangge' raid

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna , Philippines  – Combined elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Cavite police raided a shabu tiangge (flea market) in Imus, Cavite, arresting 11 people and taking 36 others for questioning, early yesterday morning, officials said.

Chief Inspector Chris Abrajano, PDEA’s Region 4-A chief, identified three of those arrested by virtue of a search warrant issued by Imus Regional Trial Court Judge Cesar Mangrobang as Janice Lugao, Rochelle Santander and Ogie Alcaparaz.

Abrajano said two maintainers of “shabu stalls,” Dante del Rosario and Jose Panis, were also nabbed during the raid in Barangay Halang at around 5:30 a.m.

Six others were arrested after they were caught having a pot session during the police operation. They were identified as Arthur Pascasio, Danilo de Guzman, Arthur Maniego, Richard Medina, Rodrigo Santos, and Anthony Rojo.

Thirty-six others who were at the shabu tiangge were taken for questioning and would be subjected to drug tests.

Seized during the raid were about five grams of shabu in sachets and drug paraphernalia.

Abrajano said those arrested face charges of violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Last Monday, police arrested 16 suspected drug pushers in another shabu tiangge in San Pablo City, Laguna.

The raid yielded at least 25 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of P100,000, drug paraphernalia, a caliber .38 revolver, and a weighing scale.

Forty-eight people were subjected to drug tests as a result of the police raid on at least 20 houses in Barangays 2-A, 2-B and Triangulo in San Pablo City. – With Michael Punongbayan and Ed Amoroso