11 drug suspects fall in Calabarzon; yield P1.111M shabu, gun

LUCENA CITY—Police arrested 11 drug suspects and seized more than P1,111,000 worth of shabu (crystal meth) in buy-bust operations on Monday and Tuesday in Batangas, Rizal, Cavite and Quezon provinces, the Calabarzon police reported.

Anti-illegal drugs operatives collared at 2:55 a.m. Tuesday Arnold Arellano and Rosalina Bautista after they allegedly sold a pack of crystal meth to an undercover police officer in Barangay Dumantay in Batangas City.

The duo yielded two plastic sachets of shabu weighing 53 grams with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value of P360,400.

Earlier, Batangas City police also busted at 1:45 p.m. on Monday Josie Sumarsar in another drug sting in Barangay Balete.

The police seized three sachets of shabu weighing 15 grams with an estimated DDB value of P102,000.

In Cainta, Rizal, anti-narcotics agents nabbed Alex Almujela, Michael Viterbo, and Adriel Vallesteros in a sting operation at 7:25 p.m. Monday Barangay San Andres.

Seized from the suspects were 12 sachets of shabu weighing 70 grams with an estimated DDB value of P476,000.

Also recovered from the group was an undocumented and loaded caliber .38 gun.

Also in Cainta, police also arrested John Joel Perez and Nicolei Bonavente at 1 a.m. Tuesday, after they reportedly sold shabu to an undercover cop in Barangay Sto. Domingo.

The suspects yielded P27,000 worth of meth.

In Dasmariñas City in Cavite, local police drug enforcers nabbed around 6:53 p.m. Arnesto Trinidad and Jessie Tugan in Barangay Salitran 2.

Authorities confiscated three sachets of meth weighing 15 grams and a DDB value of P102,000.

Police were tracking the sources of the illegal drugs peddled by the suspects.

In Lucena, police arrested a female drug suspect and seized from her more than P111,000 worth of shabu in a buy-bust operation on Monday night, police reported Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Reynaldo Reyes, Lucena police chief, reported that anti-narcotics agents arrested at 10:10 p.m. Cecilia Soriano, 54, after she sold P500 worth of meth to a poseur buyer in Barangay Ibabang Dupay.

The suspect yielded five plastic sachets of meth with an estimated DDB value of P37,060 and P111,180 in the street market.

The police tagged the suspect as a drug pusher in the locality and on their watch list.

Soriano was convicted on drug charges, but the report did not state why and when she was freed.

The police were conducting further investigation to determine the source of her illicit drugs.

All suspects are under police custody and facing charges of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Almujela, Viterbo, and Vallesteros are also facing criminal charges for illegal possession of a firearm.

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