PDEA Davao de Oro raid: 17 ‘professionals’ nabbed, illegal drugs seized

Photo from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)

MANILA, Philippines — At least 17 individuals including the main target of a buy-bust operation were arrested at a party in Davao de Oro’s Mabini town, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) reported on Monday.

A buy-bust operation conducted by PDEA on a certain Revsan Ethelbert Elizalde turned into a high-impact operation when they arrested other individuals at Sea Eagle Beach Resort in Purok Manaklay, Barangay Pindasan of Mabini.

Each of the 17 individuals was considered a high-value target, with some of the arrested suspects identifying themselves as professionals. Two of them claimed to be businesspeople, one as an accountant, and another as a registered nurse.

Photo from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)

But aside from the arrested persons, a wide variety of suspected illegal drugs were also obtained by the PDEA agents, including:

• around 10 grams of shabu worth P68,000
• 722 tabs of unidentified illegal drugs estimated to be worth P1.227 million
• 200 grams of unidentified illegal drugs estimated to be worth P24,000
• 77 pieces of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) worth P130,900
• nine plastic bots of liquid ecstasy worth P15,000
• two vials of liquid ecstasy worth P17,000

PDEA said that all suspects would face cases for violating Section 5 (Sale), Section 6 (Maintenance of a Drug Den), Section 7 (Employees or Visitors of a Drug Den), Section 13 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs During Parties), and Section 14 (Possession of Equipment and other Paraphernalia for Dangerous Drugs During Parties) of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.