BY: JOSE ROBERT INVENTOR
Authorities seized 3.5 million pesos worth of shabu and arrested a 57-year-old man during a buy-bust operation conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 1 and the Police Regional Office 1 early Tuesday, March 11.
During the operation, six packets of shabu weighing a total of 500 grams were confiscated from the suspect. Authorities also recovered a .45 caliber firearm, seven rounds of ammunition, a magazine, drug paraphernalia, and marked money used in the transaction.
The suspect is currently detained at the PDEA Regional Office 1 Jail Facility in Urdaneta City and will face charges for violating Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
A 36-year-old man, identified only as alias “Dex,” was arrested in an entrapment operation in Barangay Rizal, Santiago City on Monday, March 10.
Authorities seized 12 sachets of shabu with a total weight of 1.5 grams, valued at P10,200. The suspect also yielded a cellphone and marked money used in the transaction.
He will face charges for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Authorities burned over 14.2 million pesos worth of marijuana plants discovered in remote areas of Benguet and Kalinga.
On March 7, joint operatives of PDEA Ilocos Region and Cordillera, along with the Kibungan Police Station, raided six marijuana plantations in Sitio Kawa, Badeo, and Naptung in Benguet. A total of 49,000 marijuana plants, valued at 12.4 million pesos, were destroyed.
Meanwhile, on March 9, personnel from the Kalinga Provincial Police Office and Rizal Municipal Police Station braved heavy rains to conduct another operation in Rizal, Kalinga. Authorities uprooted and burned marijuana plants worth approximately 1.8 million pesos.
The operations are part of the government’s ongoing efforts to combat illegal drug cultivation in the region.
