BACOLOD CITY, Philippines -- Two persons spent the Holy Week in jail after police caught them selling abortive drugs.

Asuncion De la Peña, 64, and Darry Lamayo, 47, were arrested Tuesday afternoon after they sold the abortive drugs to a policewoman who posed as a buyer, according to Chief Inspector Rico Santotome Jr., who led the entrapment operation.

Santotome, who is also the spokesperson of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Police Office, said the raid on the house where De la Peña and Lamayo were found was undertaken jointly by the Special Operations Task Force and the Women and Children's Protection Desk.

Santotome said the two were arrested in Barangay 10 after Lamayo handed three tablets of Cytotec in exchange for P400 in marked bills paid by the policewoman who posed as customer.

Cytotec is used to reduce the risk of ulcers for those taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug but it can also induce labor and is used as an abortifacient, according to information posted on the website of the US Food and Drug Administration.

Also recovered from Lamayo were P5,100 in cash believed to be proceeds from their illegal activity, two cellular phone units and a National Bureau of Investigation identification card.

Seized from De la Peña, who claimed she worked as a midwife, were numerous gloves with blood stains, syringes and other paraphernalia used in her alleged abortion activities, Santotome said.

Santotome said the two were endorsed for detention to Bacolod Police Precinct 1 commander, Senior Inspector Luisito Acebuche, while a case for violation of Article 259 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits the sale of abortive drugs without the proper prescription from a physician, is being readied against the suspects.