P7.14-M worth of shabu seized in two PDEA-9 operations

COTABATO CITY — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P7.14 million worth of shabu in separate operations in two provinces in Region 9 on Wednesday, May 7.

PDEA-9 agents, along with operatives from various units of Police Regional Office-9, first arrested 22-year-old Khaleed Gara Aquilan at his residence in Barangay Kitbog, Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay, where they seized P136,000 worth of shabu during a court-ordered search operation.

The search team also discovered an additional P204,000 worth of shabu hidden in the utility box of Aquilan’s motorcycle, which was parked outside his house.

Maharani Gadaoni-Tosoc, director of PDEA-9, told reporters on Thursday, May 8, that Aquilan is now locked in a detention facility, to be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. 

Gadaoni-Tosoc said PDEA-9 agents, backed by police from various PRO-9 units, also arrested 32-year-old Nasrodin Macari Acmad on Wednesday night after he sold P6.8 million worth of shabu to authorities in an entrapment operation in Barangay San Carlos, Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur.

Acmad, a resident of Barangay Poblacion in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte, yielded peacefully when he found out that he had sold his illegal merchandise to plainclothes anti-narcotics operatives.

Gadaoni Tosoc said the entrapment that led to the detention of Acmad and the confiscation from him of P6.8 million worth of shabu was planned with the help of confidential informants long aware of his large-scale shabu peddling activities.