MANILA, Philippines — A municipal councilor was arrested in a drug sting in Tabuk, Kalinga on Sunday.
“High-value” target Dexter Batalao, 31, of Pasil town, tried to escape when he sensed he had sold shabu to undercover agents in Barangay Dagupan, but was collared in a dragnet in Barangay Appas at around 2:30 a.m., Chief Superintendent Edward Carranza, Cordillera police chief, said yesterday.
Carranza said Batalao yieded a 9mm pistol, ammunition, drug paraphernalia and marked money.
Four sachets of shabu, various types of ammunition and drug paraphernalia were also recovered during a raid on the councilor’s house following the sting.
Police said Batalao had surrendered under Oplan Tokhang in 2016.
In Bulacan, nine suspects were arrested in anti-drug operations in Bustos, Guiguinto, San Rafael, Norzagaray and Baliwag. They reportedly yielded 20 sachets of shabu, drug paraphernalia and marked money.
Miranda Quiambao and Reynaldo Ting were arrested in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija; Edner Perreras, Jovito Mendoza and Reynan Corpuz in Guagua, San Luis and Angeles, respectively, in Pampanga, and Alfredo Landingin in Victoria, Tarlac.
In Negros Occidental, sachets of shabu with an estimated street value of P525,000 were recovered from nine suspects arrested in Barangay 3, Hinigaran, and 35 in Bacolod over the weekend.
British citizen Liam Cox was among five persons arrested during a raid on a suspected drug den in Barangay Poblacion 5, Siargao, Surigao del Norte on Saturday. The suspects reportedly yielded 500 grams of marijuana leaves. – Artemio Dumlao, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Gilbert Bayoran, Ric Sapnu, Ben Serrano