P4.8M shabu seized in Agusan Sur town; 7 suspects flee

The 410 grams of shabu with a street value of P4.8 million uncovered by police operatives in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. (Photo courtesy of Richard Grande, LIPS 106.1 FM)

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur – Police in Bunawan town in this province, discovered nine bags of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth P4.8 million in a raid of a house in Consuelo village on Tuesday.

A 17-year-old boy, who was the only one  in the house during the raid, was arrested. Seven other suspects listed in the search and arrest warrants issued by the local court managed to escape when the operatives swooped down on the suspected drug den.

The anti-drug operation was jointly conducted by the local police, other supporting police units and soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion with Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Edwin Elorde.

The  boy initially denied having such a large volume of shabu when confronted by police investigators but two sniffing dogs tracked down the illegal substance buried at the back of the house.

Recovered were the bags of shabu placed inside transparent plastic bags weighing 410 grams, a weighing scale and nine live bullets of .45-gun.

The arrested suspect denied burying the shabu but admitted he sold two sachets the night before to somebody who later turned out to be an undercover police agent.

Police said the suspect and the seven others who fled were drug personalities on a local police watch list who never responded or surrendered to Oplan Tokhang, a campaign of the police to visit houses of suspected drug pushers and users to convince them to surrender and undergo rehabilitation.  SFM/rga