Christmas eve drug bust nets P 35-M ‘shabu’ in Caloocan

MANILA, Philippines — A Christmas Eve sting in Caloocan City yielded some P34.6 million worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) and led to the arrest of an alleged drug seller, the Philippine National Police said on Friday. An operation conducted in Barangay 179 on Thursday afternoon by agents of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Caloocan City Police resulted in the seizure of 5.1 kilograms of the illegal drug. Arrested was Uriel Hewe Jr., alias Bong, who the PNP said was on the watch list of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.

‘Will spare no one’

Hewe works as partner driver of an app-based transport service, police said. Also confiscated from the suspect were three pieces of foil wrapper for Chinese tea bags that had the markings “Guan Ying Wang,” gray travel bags, two ATM cards, a digital weighing scale, and a .45-caliber Armscor pistol (with serial no. 1264262) and a magazine. Police said they also recovered four rounds of live ammunition, a smartphone, and P10,150 in cash from Hewe.

The inventory of the recovered items was conducted at the place of arrest and was witnessed by village councilor Gilbert Galveno and Ismael Santos of the Bulgar tabloid, the PNP added.“The anti-illegal drugs campaign will spare no one, holiday or no holiday,” Director General Debold Sinas, the PNP chief, said in a statement. —Patricia Denise M. Chiu INQ