LUCENA CITY –– Police in this city have arrested three suspected drug pushers and seized an estimated P160,000 worth of shabu (crystal meth) and an illegal firearm on Thursday.
Lieutenant Colonel Romulo Albacea, Lucena police chief, reported that anti-narcotic agents collared Marlon Solina, 40, and his associate Arian Fontanilla, 29, after the two sold P500 worth of meth to an undercover police officer in a drug deal in Barangay Ibabang Talim at 9:55 a.m.
The suspects yielded six plastic sachets of shabu estimated to be at least P25,290 in the street market.
The said Solina was on the list of identified drug pushers in the locality and had a previous drug case.
Earlier at 7:40 a.m., another police team nabbed Joey Paderon, 32, in another sting operation in Barangay Isabang.
Authorities confiscated from Paderon 10 plastic sachets of shabu with a street value of P134,640. He was also found carrying an unlicensed caliber .45 pistol with four bullets.
The police said big-time drug suppliers were supplying guns to some of their favored pushers for protection, aside from giving them free shabu for personal use as incentives.
The suspects are facing charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Paderon will also be slapped with another case for illegal possession of a firearm.