BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Three suspected drug dens were dismantled in Kabankalan City, while 28 persons were apprehended by the police in a series of buy-bust operations in Negros Occidental on May 7 and 8, that also yielded about P357,000 worth of suspected shabu.
The buy-bust operation on May 8 in Purok 1, Brgy. 6, Kabankalan City, jointly conducted by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the local police, led to the arrest of 17 drug suspects, including an alleged drug den maintainer, identified as Ricardo Garcia, the police said.
However, the two other alleged drug maintainers, identified by the police as George Ordonia and Reggie Matus, managed to escape.
The buy-bust operation yielded 15 grams of suspected shabu, with a market value of P102,000, and assorted paraphernalia.
A day earlier, a similar buy-bust operation of the local police and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office in Purok Bino, Brgy. Oringao, Kabankalan City, led to the arrest of three drug suspects, and the seizure of 35 grams of suspected shabu, with a market value of P238,000, assorted drug paraphernalia, a homemade .38 caliber revolver with four ammunition, P1,000 in marked money, and four cellular phones. Five other drug suspects were also nabbed by the police in the cities of Talisay, Bago, and Escalante, and the town of Murcia, that yielded more than P17,000 worth of suspected shabu and its paraphernalia, as well as a homemade shotgun.*
