Cops seize P102,000 worth of shabu in Koronadal raid

COTABATO CITY — A shabu peddler who had previously evaded arrest three times was finally caught in a sting operation in Barangay Paulino Santos, Koronadal City, around midnight on Thursday, July 24.

Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente, director of the Police Regional Office-12, told reporters on Friday, July 25, that the suspect, Andy Rey Cabidog Penelvo, is now locked in a detention facility, awaiting prosecution in court.

Ardiente and city officials separately told reporters that Penelvo was immediately detained by non-uniformed members of the Koronadal City police force and operatives from the South Cotabato Provincial Police Office after he sold to them P102,000 worth of shabu during an entrapment operation in Purok Sariling Atin in Barangay Gen. Paulino Santos.

Local officials and barangay leaders in towns around Koronadal City said on Friday that Penelvo was an elusive shabu peddler who had managed to elude several attempts by law-enforcement units in South Cotabato to entrap him.

Ardiente said the entrapment operation that resulted in the arrest of Penelvo was planned with the help of local officials aware of his illegal activities in Koronadal City and nearby towns in South Cotabato.