6 nabbed by PDEA for selling illegal drugs in buy-bust ops in Manila, Makati

MANILA, Philippines—Anti-narcotics agents nabbed six alleged drug pushers in separate buy-bust operations in Manila and Makati City on Monday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Undersecretary Jose Gutierrez Jr. said on Tuesday.

Anthony Jacinto, 19, Wilfredo Riquez, 30, and Myra Francisco, 41, who peddled 50 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” were arrested by agents of the PDEA National Capital Region at around 5 p.m. at a fast-food chain along Pablo Ocampo Sr. (formerly Vito Cruz) Street, Ermita, Manila.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez said that another team of PDEA agents seized 10 pieces of capsulized ecstasy from 24-year-old Filipino-Japanese Yuri Derain-Minagawa, Quintin Fernandez, 31, and Christian Niño de Leon, 31, in a buy-bust operation at around 9 p.m. (not 1 a.m. on Tuesday, as earlier reported) along Vic Arnaiz Street in Makati City.

All six suspects were detained at the PDEA-NCR and will face charges for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Pertaining to the capsulized ecstasy, Gutierrez said that those involved in the manufacture and trade of illegal drugs were “becoming more creative, producing a derivative to avoid detection.”

The capsulized form of the illegal substance was being sold at P1,000 (one thousand pesos) each to “affluent youth and young professionals,” according to the PDEA.