Around P204 million worth of shabu was seized on Thursday, May 15, following the arrest of three high-value target (HVT) suspects during a buy-bust operation in Norzagaray, Bulacan, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.
PDEA Director General Isagani R Nerez said that the ‘high-value pushers’ with aliases ‘Jessie’, ‘Kristina’ and ‘JB’ were collared “in a resort and events place hotel’’ where 30 kilograms of shabu concealed in vacuum-sealed plastic bags were confiscated from them.
“Shortly before noon, combined elements of PDEA Special Enforcement Service (SES); PDEA Regional Office III Bulacan Provincial Office; together with police officers from Norzagaray and San Jose City, Bulacan, conducted an entrapment operation inside Payogi Leisure Hub situated along Old Barrio Road, Barangay Minuyan, Norzagaray, Bulacan,’’ the PDEA noted.
Nerez said that the suspects were immediately apprehended after they sold two kilograms of shabu, with an estimated market value of P13,600,000 placed inside the plastic bags to an undercover agent.
When operatives made a further search, they discovered 28 more kilograms of shabu worth P190,400,000.
The operatives also seized the buy-bust money, one black Toyota Fortuner, one mobile phone and several identification cards during the operation.
“One operation leads to another. We connected the dots by piecing together information and evidence from our previous operations that ultimately led to the arrest of the suspects who happened to be top-level shabu traffickers,” Nerez noted.
“We will use all extracted information to our advantage and continue to operate against drug trafficking syndicates and their underlings. This is in response to the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to shut down illegal drug activities and dismantle the drug networks,” he continued.
The suspects face charges for violation of Sections 5 (Sale of Dangerous Drugs) and 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs), Article II of Republic Act (RA) 9165 otherwise known as “The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.’’