Barangay head, cop, trader fall in shabu session

MANILA, Philippines - A barangay chairman, a rookie policeman and a businessman were arrested by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in a shabu session last week in Cotabato City, authorities said.

“The involvement of a barangay chairman and a police officer in this case illustrates the irony of the drug situation where some of those who are supposed to help us in our crusade against the drug menace are actually part of the problem instead of contributing to the solution,” said PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago.

Bryan Babang, PDEA director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, identified the suspects as Mahdi Saglayan, 41, owner of Manita Enterprises; Aziz Lidasan, 40, chairman of Barangay Matanog, Maguindanao; and PO1 Marhom Saglayan, 36, who is assigned to the municipal police of Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur.

The suspects’ arrest was prompted by an informant’s tip that a group was sniffing shabu in the office of Manita Enterprises in Bagua 2, Cotabato City.

Babang said the suspects did not resist arrest.

Seized from the suspects were two heat-sealed plastic sachets of shabu, an improvised tooter, eight aluminum foil strips, a lighter, and three needles.

A caliber .45 pistol with a magazine loaded with seven bullets was found in Saglayan’s possession.

The suspects were charged with illegal possession of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia.