Drug den in Cotabato province shut down, 3 operators nabbed

COTABATO CITY — Anti-narcotics agents seized P85,000 worth of shabu and arrested three alleged drug den operators, suspected of sharing earnings to two local terrorist groups, in a raid on Thursday in Pikit town, Cotabato province.

Aileen Lovitos, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-12, told reporters on Friday morning that suspects Leo Wacad Magno, Carl Winkie Opeña Magno and Brixbaine Jan Barraca Sangco are now in their custody. The suspects will be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The suspects yielded peacefully when PDEA-12 agents, backed by operatives from different units of the Police Regional Office-12, barged into their drug den along Vidal Cabañog Street in Barangay Poblacion, Pikit and showed them a search warrant from a court.

PDEA-12 agents and policemen found P86,000 worth of shabu and drug sniffing paraphernalia in their den that neighbors frequented, according to local officials.

Courts, as a judicial policy, do not set bail for drug den operators arrested in PDEA or police anti-narcotics operations.

Local officials told reporters on Friday that PDEA-12 and the police should together look into assertions by people privy to the illegal activities of the suspects that they shared earnings to the Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which are both known for providing drug dealers sanctuary in exchange for money.

There is presence of the two terrorist groups in interior barangays in Pikit and in the nearby 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta.