The Bacolod City police seized about P13.6 million worth of suspected shabu from a couple and their house help in a buy-bust operation at Scorpio Street in Brgy. Sincang-Airport, Bacolod City Monday night.
Nabbed during the joint operation of the PNP Drug Enforcement Unit, led by Lt. Col. Joel Estaris, and the Bacolod City Police Office Station 8 operatives, were Regine Arroz and her live-in partner, Jun Mark Ibe, both 28, and residents of the place, and Shiela Mhary Balarao, 34, of Brgy. Palaka Norte, Pulupandan in Negros Occidental.
The apprehension of the three suspects yielded an estimated two kilos of suspected shabu, with a market value of P13.6 million, P1,000 in marked money, and P29,000 in cash proceeds.
The buy-bust operation was conducted by DEU operatives, following reports of an alleged shipment of shabu from Manila to Bacolod City.
The two kilos of suspected shabu, worth P13.6 million, and other items seized in a buy-bust operation in Bacolod City Monday night*BCPO photo
CEREAL, MILK AS DISGUISED
The illegal drugs, placed in boxes of cereals and milk, were sent through a courier delivery company, the police said.
Singcang-Airport Barangay Captain Rosinie Distrito, who witnessed the inventory of the seized items, congratulated the police teams for the successful operation.
“If these illegal drugs were not intercepted, they would have caused harm,” he said.
Distrito said the suspects were new in the barangay and were just renting the place where the buy-bust operation took place.
One of the operatives said in a radio interview that the drug sting was a follow-up of a recent operation in Luzon, where the PNP-DEG learned that a batch of shabu will be transported from Metro Manila to Bacolod.
On Monday, Balarao was reportedly monitored claiming a package from a courier’s warehouse, and her movement was traced by the operatives, leading them to the couple’s house.
During the buy-bust at around 6 p.m., Ibe sold P15,000 worth of shabu to the poseur-buyer.
ALSO IN TALISAY, SILAY
Meanwhile, two other drug suspects were apprehended by the police in buy-bust operations in the cities of Talisay and Silay, Negros Occidental, also on Monday.
The arrest of Rolando Florentino, 31, at Zulueta Street in Brgy. 3 poblacion, Silay City, yielded one gram of suspected shabu, with a market value of P6,800, and P500 in marked money.
The buy-bust operation in Brgy. Zone, Talisay City, also resulted in the arrest of Dean Frederick Abellar and the confiscation of about five grams of suspected shabu, with a market value of P34,000, P500 in marked money, and P1,200 in cash.*GPB/PNA
