LTO chief in Tarlac nabbed for drugs

Land Transportation Office OIC Rogel Yambao, 59, was arrested at his home in Tarlac City on Wednesday after a search yielded sachets of suspected shabu. Photo by Maria Adelaida Calayag

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – A Tarlac official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) was arrested on Wednesday when nine sachets of suspected shabu (crystal meth), a hand grenade, and bullets for a handgun, were seized from his house during a court-approved search in Tarlac City.

Rodel Yambao, 59, officer-in-charge of LTO in Tarlac province, had been under police surveillance after being listed as a high-value target.

The search and seizure conducted by the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency at Yambao’s house in Barangay (village) San Roque were accomplished “legally and orderly,” the police said.

The search was done in the presence of the suspect’s wife, two village councilors and representatives from the media and the Department of Justice.

Yambao has been detained at the Tarlac police jail./lb