CEBU, Philippines - Five kilos of marijuana were seized and two suspects were arrested in a buy-bust operation Thursday afternoon at Pavia town of Iloilo.
Members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office–Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group arrested Maomar Bueron, 39, and Wilmer Caro, 37, both of Cabatuan town of Iloilo, who yielded the marijuana bricks and P2,100 cash.
According to Senior Inspector John Ryan Doceo, chief of the IPPO-PAIDSOTG, the suspects have been placed under a weeklong surveillance. It was their first arrest.
The police poseur-buyer initially transacted for the trade to happen in Cabatuan town, but Bueron and Caro changed the venue at Sta. Barbara town.
However, considering the police presence in this town, due to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, the two decided to have the deal done at a videoke bar at Barangay Aganan in Pavia where they eventually fell to the authorities.
Doceo said the suspects have sourced their supply from Cabatuan. “We are looking at the possibility that there is a marijuana plantation in Cabatuan,” he added.
A police informant also added that Bueron and Caro also supplied marijuana to Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan.
Last July 14, Mark Anthony Quioyo, 35, of Barangay Banguit in Cabatuan, was also arrested in a buy-bust operation, and yielded three sachets of shabu and paraphernalia.
The local police also discovered a marijuana planted near the Quioyo’s house. —Jennifer P. Rendon (FREEMAN)