Police uncover dating app drug trade; 2 suspects busted

MANILA, Philippines – Police arrested two newly-identified drug suspects in Quezon City Wednesday night for allegedly peddling shabu (crystal meth) through a dating app.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bilaro, station commander of the Quezon City Police District’s Project 4 station, identified the arrested suspects as Rowell Pagsolingan, 34, and Ralph Duran, 33.

QCPD-Project 4 station operatives and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-National Capital Region targeted the suspects in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Bagumbahay, Project 4 after receiving a tip from a confidential informant.

Bilaro told INQUIRER.net that an undercover police officer created a fake account and negotiated with suspects through a dating app.

During the meetup, Pagsolingan and Duran were arrested after handing over several sachets of shabu to the undercover police officer.

Recovered from the arrested suspects were 4.05 grams of shabu worth P27,540 and marked peso bills.

Pagsolingan and Duran are under police custody and will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002./ gsg