2 suspected drug pushers fall in Quezon buy-bust

LUCENA CITY – Two suspected drug pushers were nabbed in separate buy-bust operations in Candelaria town in Quezon province on Saturday, police said.

Drug enforcement unit collared Ariel Espaltero, 30, after he sold “shabu” (crystal meth) to an undercover police officer in a transaction in Barangay (village) Pahinga around 5:50 p.m., Quezon police chief, Senior Supt. Osmundo de Guzman, said in a report.

The suspect, who was included in the police drug watch list, yielded two plastic sachets of shabu containing a total of 5.61 grams which was valued at P10,378 based on Dangerous Drugs Board estimates. The confiscated shabu was worth P28,000 in the street market at P5,000 per gram.

Earlier, another drug pusher Lamberto Liwanag, 49, was also nabbed in another buy-bust operation in Barangay Malabanban Norte.

Authorities seized one plastic sachet of shabu containing less than one gram from the suspect. /je