Truck driver nabbed for trading shabu

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga Del Sur –– A truck driver who allegedly doubles as a drug peddler fell into the hands of authorities here Wednesday afternoon in a buy-bust operation.

Lt. Col. Alvin Saguban, Pagadian city police chief, identified the suspect as Joel Manhuyod of Dinas, Zamboanga del Sur.

Eleven sachets of suspected crystal meth or shabu were seized from his possession.

Saguban said Manhuyod had been the subject of surveillance after his colleagues, who were earlier nabbed in previous police operations, pointed to him as among those who transport illegal drugs from Lanao to Zamboanga del Sur.

Saguban also disclosed that Manhuyod claimed that the got his illegal drugs from contacts in Lanao del Sur, but their trade transactions happened in Iligan City. From Iligan, he brought the illicit goods to Zamboanga del Sur.

Although they were not able to clamp on a bigger shabu haul from Manhuyod, Saguban said the arrested truck driver’s revelations were valuable inputs for a deeper probe into the flow of shabu in the region.

Manhuyod is set to be charged for selling and possessing illegal drugs./lzb