Over P880,000 worth of suspected kush marijuana and liquid marijuana were seized from a vape seller during a buy-bust operation along Camiguin Road, Cebu Business Park, Barangay Hipodromo, Cebu City yesterday dawn.
The arrested suspect was identified as 26-years-old alias ‘Harvey,’ jobless and a resident of Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
Confiscated during the operation were 32 disposable vapes and 16 vape cartridges, all containing brown liquid substance suspected to be liquid marijuana, valued approximately at ?859,200.
Around 25 grams of kush marijuana, stored in two glass containers, worth ?30,000 were also recovered from the accused.
The said operation was jointly carried out past 2 A.M. by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 (PDEA-7) and in coordination with Mabolo Police Station.
According to PDEA-7, they receive a report from a confidential informant about the alleged illegal sale of vape products with marijuana, prompting them conduct a two-week case build-up.
Based on their investigation, it was found out that the suspect sells five to 10 vape products per week to his customers, most of whom work as call center agents.
The evidence was already submitted to the PDEA-7 regional office laboratory for chemical analysis and proper disposition.
It was also reported that the PDEA-7 Laboratory and Operations Division had not previously confiscated such a huge quantity of liquid marijuana, making this a rare case in the region.
PDEA-7 added that the investigation into the suspect will continue even though he was not cooperative during the first interview. A follow-up operation may also be conducted to further investigate the case.
Meanwhile, the suspect is currently detained in the PDEA-7 custodial facility in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City. He is facing charges under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, specifically Section 5 for the sale of illegal drugs.