P1.7-B crystal meth seized in drug sting

MANILA, Philippines — A joint sting operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the police on Saturday yielded nearly P1.7 billion worth of shabu (crystal meth) from two suspects in Dasmariñas City. According to the PDEA, the buy-bust operation was conducted at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the parking lot of a restaurant along Aguinaldo Highway in Barangay Salitran 2, Dasmariñas City. Agents of the PDEA and the Philippine National Police drug enforcement group arrested suspects Wilfredo Blanco Jr. and Megan Lemon Pedroro as soon as they completed a transaction with undercover anti-illegal drug agents. The duo’s white van allegedly yielded 240 kilograms of shabu worth P1.656 billion. Blanco and Pedroro remain in PDEA custody pending the filing of violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 against them in the Department of Justice.

—Jeannette I. Andrade