HAUL OF THE DAY Chief Supt. Lorenzo Eleazar, NCRPO director (right), and Supt. Ariel Capocao, Kamuning police station commander, examine the seized drugs. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Three men who met while playing online video games and then got involved in the drug trade yielded over 10 kilos of marijuana worth around P1.4 million following their arrest on Friday in Quezon City.
Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, National Capital Region Police Office director, identified the drug suspects as Mark Philip Jualan, Juan Soriano and Eli Jordan Bringas.
In a press briefing on Saturday, Eleazar said the three were arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by members of the Kamuning police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The three earlier sold dried marijuana leaves to an undercover policeman on Congressional Avenue corner Gabriela Silang Street at Barangay Culiat around 11:45 p.m. Friday.
Seized evidence
Seized from the suspects were a sack containing 10 rolled-up bundles of marijuana leaves worth P1.4 million, P500 in cash and their vehicle, a maroon Honda Civic.
Supt. Ariel Capocao, Kamuning police station commander, said the drug suspects met each other and got interested in the drug trade while playing Dota, an online video game.
He added that the marijuana was believed to have come from the northern part of the country.
“It may be from the north. They don’t know [where exactly] because it’s just delivered to them. They said they’re just the middlemen, [not the supplier],” Capocao added.
Capocao said the three men were placed under surveillance based on the tip given by another arrested drug suspect.
More suspects nabbed
Two other men were also caught for drugs on Friday night by the police near Judge Jimenez Street in Kamuning.
They were identified as Edced Lim, 23, a resident of Barangay Pinyahan and Allen Bernal Devillas, 20, of Old Balara, Quezon City.
The pair yielded four ziplock bags of rolled-up dried marijuana leaves. The police said they were still trying to determine if the drugs seized from the five men came from the same supplier because they were packed identically.
The suspects were charged with violating Sections 5 and 11 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. —With a report from Andrea Alcaraz