3 drug suspects fall after buy-bust on village exec

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A village councilor in the town of Sumilao, Bukidnon province was arrested in a buy-bust operation at the village of Lapasan here on Monday, Sept. 30.

Maj. Evan Vinas, city police spokesperson, said John Mark Sabanal, 33, a member of the village council of San Roque in Sumilao, sold four sachets of shabu, or crystal meth, to an undercover agent for P4,000.

Sabanal, Vinas said, had revealed the source of his supply.

Less than an hour later, the same team also arrested Rector Gonzaga, 34, alias “Gogoy”, of the village of Gusa and Acsani Ali, 19, of the village of Macabalan. Both had police records.

Ali yielded some 13 grams of shabu, Vinas said.

Vinas said Sabanal was cornered in Lapasan, some 59 kilometers from Sumilao, after he fell for a tip that someone wanted to buy drugs.

The three are now detained at the Lapasan police station./TSB