2 men yield P2M worth of drugs in Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines - Caught selling methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, to a poseur-buyer, two drug pushers were arrested by anti-narcotics agents during an entrapment operation in a restaurant in Iloilo, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said on Friday.

PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. identified the suspects as Orestes Estribor, 37, a cockfighting handler; and Christian Morin, 18, a volunteer tanod; both of West Poblacion, Oton, Iloilo.

Initial report showed that on Nov. 27 around 8:30 p.m., members of PDEA Regional Office 6 arrested the suspects after they sold a sachet of shabu to an undercover PDEA agent disguised as a buyer at a chicken-and-seafood restaurant in Barangay Botong, Oton, Iloilo.

When searched, the two yielded seven more plastic sachets of the illegal drug, a digital weighing scale, and the P3,000 buy-bust money used during the transaction.

Seized from them were a total of 235.6 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P2,002,600.

Cacdac said the operation is considered a high impact operation due to the large volume of shabu seized.

The suspects will be facing illegal drug charges, Cacdac said.