Over P3 million worth of shabu seized in PDEA, police Region 9 operations

COTABATO CITY — Anti-narcotics agents seized over P3 million worth of shabu from three traffickers in separate operations across three provinces in Region 9 on Monday, April 21.

Maharani Gadaoni-Tosoc, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 9, told reporters on Tuesday, April 22, that they are now holding 30-year-old Val Bernard Salomon Bayubay, who was arrested after selling P3.4 million worth of shabu to their agents in an entrapment operation on Monday in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.

Gadaoni-Tosoc said the operation that led to Bayubay’s arrest was carried out with the help of policemen from units under Brig. Gen. Roel Rodolfo, director of the Police Regional Office-9.

In separate operations on the same day, police arrested two other shabu peddlers in Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur provinces. Both operations, which were successful, were supported by PDEA-9, according to radio reports from Cotabato City on Tuesday morning.

A police anti-narcotics team, supported by PDEA-9 agents, apprehended 35-year-old Reuel Malazarte Cabaylo in an entrapment operation in Imelda town, Zamboanga Sibugay. Police officers from the Imelda Municipal Police Station and Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Police Office, disguised as drug dependents, successfully bought P13,000 worth of shabu from him.

Suspected drug shabu dealer 30-year-old Jessie Cassimilo Velos was also arrested and detained after plainclothes policemen seized P40,000 worth of shabu from him during a covert tradeoff in Pagadian City. The operation was coordinated by officials from the Pagadian City Police Force and the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Police Office.