Ex-drug rehab patient in Quezon falls in buy-bust ops

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LUCENA CITY – A drug surrenderee and former patient in a government rehabilitation center was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Tayabas City in Quezon province shortly before midnight Friday, police said.

Quezon police drug enforcement unit collared suspect Joel Aquino, 52, after he allegedly sold “shabu” (crystal meth) to a police officer who acted as a poseur buyer in a transaction in Barangay (village) Isabang around 10:50 p.m., Senior Supt. Osmundo de Guzman, Quezon police director, said in a report.

The suspect yielded eight plastic sachets of shabu weighing a total of 12.96 grams with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value of P23,976, three zip lock plastics containing 45.34 grams of dried marijuana leaves with a DDB value of P83,879 and a motorcycle believed he was using in illegal drugs distribution in this city and nearby town.

Report said the suspect had undergone drug rehabilitation at the National Bureau of Investigation in Tagaytay City from 2000 to 2001. He also voluntarily surrendered to the authorities in 2016 during the start of the government massive drug campaign under the Duterte administration. /jpv