PDEA-6 seizes nearly P1M worth of shabu

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – An alleged attempt to sneak into Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan of close to P1 million worth of shabu was yesterday busted by the PDEA-Region 6 operatives at Caticlan airport.

Before the illegal drugs could reach its destination, PDEA-6 members intercepted the baggage and eventually arrested Jona-Gin Liba, 20, a native of San Fernando City, La Union and her live-in partner, Alexander Nebres, 38, of Pasay City. The couple was reportedly renting a house in Boracay.

When collared at the Caticlan Airport, the couple was in possession of three big sachets of suspected shabu weighing around 70 grams. 

PDEA-6 legal division chief Ronnie Delicana said the operation against the two suspects was a controlled delivery. “Meaning, from the airport in Manila, we knew all along that there was a drug supply that would arrive in Caticlan Airport,” he said.

PDEA-6 regional director Yogi Filemon Ruiz said they already have information that a drug supply has passed through the cargo at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and was bound for Boracay. “PDEA operatives in Manila did not seize the goods because we wanted to know who will pick it up,” he said.

The baggage—a box with three radio speakers inside—arrived and Liba allegedly claimed it. It was then that anti-narcotics agents accosted and dared her to open it. True enough, it contained packs of suspected shabu, with the big sachet put inside the big speaker and the small ones inside the two small speakers.

Nebres denied he has something to do with any illegal drug trade. “Sa kanya (Liba) naman naka-address ‘yun eh. Sinamahan ko lang naman siya para kunin. So, nagulat ako bakit pati ako hinuli na lang,” he said.

Ruiz believed that the two were part of a syndicate, purposely deployed to Boracay to lead the operation in the area. He however did not divulge the identity of the sender of the cargo saying that PDEA-6 is now conducting an operation relative to the Aklan arrest.

The confiscation of the shabu was the biggest haul in Aklan province in recent months. – THE FREEMAN