Cops seize P21.2-M worth of cocaine in Quezon buy-bust

LUCENA CITY — Police arrested a man in a buy-bust operation in Infanta town in Quezon province Friday, seizing from him P21.2 million worth of suspected cocaine.

Senior Supt. Osmundo de Guzman, Quezon police chief, identified the suspect as Aldrin Taharan, 48, who was arrested by officers from the Special Operations Unit and Drug Enforcement Unit of Police Regional Office 4.

Also part of the drug bust were with officers from Bacoor town in Cavite province and Infanta town.

The officers arrested Taharan in Barangay Dinahican around 2 p.m. after he sold cocaine to a cop who acted as a poseur buyer.

Authorities seized four packs of suspected cocaine weighing four kilograms and with an estimated street value of around P21.2 million.

Police said the substance was part of an abandoned cocaine stash that was left in the Lamon Bay area in Quezon province last April.

Between April 15 and 22, fishermen from the island town of Perez, Quezon found a total of 28 kilos of cocaine, worth P280 million, and 16.5 liters of liquid chemical that could make about 13 kilos of cocaine worth P130 million in Lamon Bay.

Another group of Quezon fishers also recovered in the area a “sophisticated, high-tech” tracking device used in monitoring drug shipments.

The 5 kilogram device, similar to a buoy featuring a plastic neon orange top, contained a GPS (global positioning system) instrument and a packet of silica gel that kept moisture off.

It was the first time that such kind of device was intercepted in Philippine waters, confirming suspicions that drug dealers have been transporting narcotics by sea, according to police.

De Guzman said the arrested suspect was one of those who recovered the floating illegal drugs and later sold it for P1.5 million per kilo. The suspect was detained at the Infanta police jail. /atm