Cops nab 4, seize cocaine in Zamboanga City drug bust

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur –– Four men belonging to prominent families here, landed in jail after trying to sell cocaine to an undercover cop.

Captain Yashier Sarikin, spokesperson of the Zamboanga City Police Office, said the four were collared in a drug buy-bust operation on Monday along P. Lorenzo Street, Barangay Zone 4, this city.

The suspects were identified as Jawawi Landasan Alih, 25, Abdel Joran Nasser, 24, Leomyr Toribio, 35, and Alfred Rico Alvarez, 40.

Recovered from their possession are four packs of cocaine weighing more than 400 grams, with an estimated value of P2.1 million.

Major Elmer Solon, head of the Zamboanga City Police Station 11, said the suspects hid the cocaine in their buttocks.

A cop pretended to buy crystal meth or shabu from the suspects. Upon inspecting the goods, the other operatives swooped in and declared a buy-bust.

It was not yet known if the cocaine sold was part of the haul smuggled into the country last year, some of which were found by fishermen.

In September 2019, bricks of cocaine were fished out of the waters off Muhammad Ajul town in Basilan.

ZB