Authorities seized some P850 million worth of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) from a Chinese national and his Filipino driver during a buy-bust operation in Bugallon, Pangasinan, on Thursday afternoon.
The illegal drugs, weighing about 125 kilos, were packed in plastic tea bags and loaded inside a van.
In a statement, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said combined operatives from its Intelligence Service, PDEA Regional Office I-Pangasinan Provincial Office, and other law enforcement units staged the entrapment along Olongapo-Bugallon Road shortly after noon.
Arrested were high-value targets identified only as alias ‘Monkey,’ 40, a Chinese national from Paliparan 3, Cavite City, and alias ‘Gardo,’ 54, a resident of Mampang, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur.
Confiscated from the suspects were the Hyundai Starex van used in the operation, a mobile phone, and the marked buy-bust money.
The two will be charged with violating Section 5 (Sale of Dangerous Drugs) and Section 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs) under Article II of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. If convicted, they face life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million.
The Pangasinan operation was conducted with the support of the Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG), the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Counterintelligence Group.
On the same day, a separate buy-bust in Barangay San Lorenzo, Bangui, Ilocos Norte, led to the arrest of another high-value drug target and her cohort.
PDEA Regional Office I director Atty. Benjamin G. Gaspi identified the suspects as alias ‘Jennifer,’ tagged as a high-value target, and alias ‘Edith,’ both residents of Barangay San Lorenzo.
Recovered from them were four sachets of suspected shabu weighing 1.02 grams, a coin purse, a sealing device, three mobile phones, two belt bags, a motorcycle with a sidecar, and the marked buy-bust money.
The Ilocos Norte operation was carried out by the PDEA Provincial Office and Bangui Municipal Police Station, with support from the Ilocos Norte Provincial Police Office-Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, the Regional Intelligence Division PRO-1, and the Regional Intelligence Unit 1-Provincial Intelligence Team./coa