AWOL cop, wife nabbed over drugs

MANILA, Philippines - Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested a policeman and his wife during a buy-bust operation in Taguig City on Monday night.

PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. identified the suspects as Senior Police Officer 2 Wilfredo Hidalgo, 47, who went absent without leave from his post in Southern Police District-National Capital Region Police Office since 2010; and his wife, Cristina, 46.

Cacdac said authorities apprehended the couple in their neighborhood in Lower Bicutan at around 6 p.m.

Confiscated during the operation were seven heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets of shabu weighing three grams and a Beretta pistol.

The couple is now detained at the PDEA custodial facility in Quezon City, facing illegal drugs raps.